Beauty and the Beast
by Hewylewis
Summary: This version of the classic story has a Male Beauty betrothed to a woman he has never even known or met. But that soon changes when he encounters a mysterious She Beast in a dark and strange castle while searching for his lost parents. COMPLETE. R&R.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This story is co-written by several author friends of mine. We hope you enjoy.**

Once upon a time, in a far away land, a young princess lived in a shining castle. She was blessed with a loving mother and father, who ruled as king and queen, and she had everything her heart desired. She was beautiful, caring and kind.

But then one day, while she was out in the woods near her home, she spotted a beautiful red rose growing out of the ground. She was intrigued with its beauty, and quickly plucked it from the ground and rushed home to show her parents. They thought it was lovely, too. And so they placed it inside a glass cover, for all to see.

Suddenly, the front doors flew open and in walked a beautiful enchantress. She had come because the princess had stolen her rose from her garden. The king tried to explain that she was just a little girl and didn't know any better. But it was too late, for the enchantress had turned him and the queen into stone. She then turned her attention to the little girl. As punishment, she transformed her into a strange beast and placed a powerful spell upon the castle and all who lived there.

Ashamed of her monstrous form, the beast concealed herself within the castle, with a magic mirror as her only window to the outside world. The rose she had plucked was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until her twenty first year. If she would earn another man's love, and if he would ask for her hand in marriage before the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, she would be doomed to remain a beast for all time.

As the years passed, she fell into despair and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast?


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: This chapter was written by me, Leotabelle13 and SamoaPheonix.**

Frederick La'Belle was the schoolmaster of a small town in France. He was twenty-three years of age, had dark brown hair and was very handsome and smart. His students loved him and he loved them back. Deep within his heart, Fred felt rather upset about his upcoming marriage. His had been arranged to marry a wealthy girl from the village, whom he had no previous connection with. The marriage was necessary however, for his family was beginning to go poor and they needed the money.

* * *

Frederick was teaching his class about the meaning of beauty. "Alright, class," he said as he wrote the word 'Beauty' on the chalkboard. "What is beauty?" He then pointed to a girl who was raising her hand. "Yes?"

"Beauty is the fact that someone is very pretty," said the girl.

Frederick snapped his fingers. "Very good, but wrong!" he then stood in front of the first row of students. "Beauty is not a fact, it is actually an opinion." Then he walked up to the girl who answered his question. "Let's take Jill here as an example. Does anyone here think she's pretty?"

A few of the students shook their heads.

"No?" Frederick smiled. "Well, I think she's very pretty."

"She has freckles!" shouted a boy from the other side of class.

"Is that why you don't think she's pretty?"

The boy nodded quickly.

Frederick smiled. "Then that's your opinion." He then walked back to the chalkboard. "There's an old saying, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It means that beauty is whatever your eyes want it to be."

"I think you're pretty, Tommy," said Jill to the boy.

The entire class giggled as Tommy blushed

* * *

After school was over, Frederick packed up his shoulder bag, put on his tri-cornered hat and locked the door. He soon began to walk home while reading one of his books.

Just then, a tall, muscular man stood before him. He was Gaston, the brother of Gabriella, Frederick's wife-to-be. "Hello, Freddy," he said rather smugly.

"Bonjour, Gaston," said Frederick, uninterested.

Gaston quickly snatched the book from Frederick.

"Gaston, please give me back my book."

"Now Freddy, we're gonna be brothers soon! Whats it hurt if I take your book to sneak a peek?" Gaston skimmed through the book, and quickly Frederick snatched it back. Gaston grabbed Frederick by his collar. "I'd cool it if I were you, you and your family need my family's money. You may be marrying my sister but if you do anything to tick me off, I'll make sure that you will never see a single cent or her. Got me?"

Frederick smirked, "Well how will that be different than my situation now?"

Gaston let go of Frederick. "I'm serious Freddy, our family is the most powerful in town. We can do worse than you can imagine." And with that, he walked off.

Frederick smirked, picked up his book and cleaned it off. '_What can that be?' _he thought._ 'I wouldn't mind marrying Gabriella if I had met her first. But her buffoon of a brother is making me want to skip town. But it's for the good of the family Fred, remember that.' _He sighed and made his way home to his parents' farm.

* * *

"Hi, son," his father said as Fredrick pushed open the door to their cozy, if a little threadbare, home. "How'd it go today?"

"Oh, the usual," Fredrick replied. "The children are coming along nicely. They're all very bright and their parents should be proud." He wasn't about to tell his father about the 'incident' with Gaston. It would make his parents worry that they weren't doing the right thing by him, which would only make him feel worse about the coming marriage.

"Good," his father said. He turned back to his own reading.

Fredrick smiled as he watched him, knowing precisely where his own bookish habits had come from. He wondered if Gabriella liked books. Or maybe not. Maybe she would be mean and bossy like her brother. Fredrick stopped this line of thinking in its tracks. The last thing he wanted was to be visibly upset in front of his parents. He poked his head around the corner into the kitchen. Normally his mother would be engaged in making supper a this hour, but there was no one there. Puzzled, Fredrick made his way up the narrow stairs to where the bedrooms were located. He looked into his parents' bedroom first.

His mother was there, packing clothes into a satchel with the assistance of the family's valet, Jean-Luc. "Oh, hello, Fred. How was school?" she said.

"Fine. Mother, what are you doing? Are you going somewhere?"

"Oh, that's right, I forgot to tell you! Your father and I are invited to see some old friends in Paris. We met them when we were all in boarding school together. They are very rich, and they have said they want to help us out a little, what with the wedding and all. Don't worry, son, we'll only be gone a few days, and we'll have Jean-Luc with us. You can keep the farm going for that long without us, can't you?"

"Sure, Mother," answered Fred, though deep down he wasn't so sure. The hired hands liked him, but he wasn't certain they respected him enough to obey his orders.

"Excellent," his mother said, not noticing Fredrick's discomfort. "We'll be leaving in an hour or so, and I've got so much to do!" She turned back to her packing.

Jean-Luc followed Fred out the door and into his own room. "Go away, Jean-Luc. I have…some papers to grade," Fredrick said, sitting down on the bed.

"Really, Master Fred? Then where are they?" asked Jean-Luc with a slight smile.

Fredrick sighed. "All right, you caught me. Come in and sit down."

Jean-Luc shut the door, but he did not sit. "Worried about the upcoming marriage, Master Fred?" he asked after a moment.

"Some. I just wish I knew what she was like. I wish I were more certain we'll be happy together. Her brother certainly isn't helping matters in that department. I can't believe I'll have to spend holidays with that musclebound idiot!" He described Gaston's waylaying earlier.

"Hm." Now Jean-Luc did sit beside his young master. "This is a problem. Have you spoken to the Master and Mistress about it?"

"No. They'd only worry, and I don't want that. They have enough troubles on their minds right now."

"True. Well, the only thing I can offer is that you must trust that everything will work out for the best. Perhaps this man Gaston is the black sheep of the family, and everyone else is perfectly nice," Jean-Luc suggested.

Fredrick didn't really think the valet believed this, but he appreciated the gesture nonetheless. "Thanks, Jean-Luc. Why don't you go downstairs and see that Father has something to eat before you all set out for Paris? I'll join you in a few minutes."

"Very good, Master Fred." Jean-Luc left, and Fredrick sighed. No one seemed to understand his misgivings. He wanted more from life than to be tied down in marriage already! But with so little money, he had no other choice but to marry Gabriella and settle down here in the village. He sighed again, and went downstairs to get some supper.

* * *

His parents were in too much of a rush to notice how quiet their son was being. All too soon they were bundling into their hired coach, with Jean-Luc to drive. The valet cracked his whip, and the carriage began to roll. Fredrick waved until it was out of sight. Then he turned and went back into the darkened, empty house, and prepared himself for several unhappy days alone.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: This chapter was written by me, Leotabelle13 and Wrestlemaniac829.**

Peter and Olivia La'Belle had been traveling for quite some time. Their valet, Jean-Luc, was at the reins of the two horses pulling the coach. They were soon traveling through a large, dark, fog-filled forest. The trees seemed grotesque and misshapen without their leaves. Jean-Luc's left hand clutched tightly at his coat as he drove the two horses through the foreboding woods, breathing heavily as he eyed around for danger.

"This can't be right," he said to himself. "What happened to the road?"

"Jean-Luc," asked Peter from inside the coach. "Why is it getting so dark, where are we?"

"I think we missed the turn, sir." Just then, the coach came to a stop as Jean-Luc spotted a fork in the fog covered road. "Sir, come and look at this."

Peter poked his head out from the left side of the coach, looking at the two pathways. "Hmm… And no mile signs." He put a finger to his chin, trying to figure out which path to take. "Let's go right."

"Yes, sir." Jean-Luc noticed that the horses were turning towards the left. He then tightly pulled the reins to the right, trying to get the horses to go that way. "Come on you two, it's a short cut. We'll be there in no time." The horses soon started to walk down the right path.

Inside the coach, Peter tried to comfort his wife, who looked weary. "Darling, are you all right?" he asked.

Olivia held her arms together, as if trying to keep warm. "I don't know," she answered. She was beginning to look pale. Just then, she started coughing.

Peter held her hand. He noticed that her hand was cold. "Olivia, you're freezing! I think you're getting sick!" He patted her shoulder, trying to keep her awake. "I'm sorry, but the trip is canceled, we're going to get you to a doctor." Peter then stuck his head out of the left window to talk to Jean-Luc again. "Jean-Luc, let's turn around. We need to get Olivia to a doc-" His sentence was interrupted by a wolf's howl.

Suddenly, the horses started to panic. One of them reared up and backed the coach into a tree. Peter and Olivia jerked forward as the coach banged into the tree. Suddenly, without warning, thousands of bats came flying in from the back window of the coach! Peter and Olivia screamed in terror at the awful sight as the huddled together.

Jean-Luc was also horrified as he watched the bats swarm out from inside the coach. The horses began to trot off at lightning speed. They ran through the dark woods, trying to escape both the bats and other horrors. Just then, the coach stopped. The horses were trying to run in different directions. Suddenly, the harness on the left horse broke, and it trotted off into the darkness. Jean-Luc breathed heavily and climbed down onto the ground. He opened the door to the coach, seeing that Olivia and Peter were still clutched together.

"Is everyone all right?" Jean-Luc asked.

Peter nodded and said, "A little, what happened?"

"We've lost one of the horses."

"That's upsetting."

"Not only that, I think we're lost."

Peter put a hand to his forehead. "Oh dear."

"Peter?" asked Olivia. "What are we going to do?"

Peter turned to his wife. "Don't worry, we'll think of something."

Just then, growling could be heard from within the forest. Jean-Luc turned to see several wolves emerging from behind the trees and advancing towards the coach. "Oh no," he said, worryingly. He then turned to the La'Belles. "You two stay in the coach, We're getting out of here." He then closed the door, climbed back up and cracked his whip.

The remaining horse started galloping away, pulling the coach. Jean-Luc turned around to see that the wolves were chasing them! He urged the horse to go faster. They ran and ran, faster and faster the horse pulled the coach through the dark woods. Suddenly, the horse stopped in front of a large, iron bar gate. Jean-Luc was relieved, but had no time to feel so. He jumped onto the ground and opened the coach door again.

"Master La'Belle!" he cried. "We've stopped at a gate! But I need you to help me open it!"

"Right, yes, of course!" said Peter as he jumped out of the coach and ran up to the gate with Jean-Luc.

The two men pushed on the gate with all their might, the wolves still hot on their heels. Finally, the gate door flew open. Quickly, Jean-Luc and Peter La'Belle grabbed onto the horses reins and forced it to walk inside. The wolves were getting closer and closer. At last, the horse and coach were inside and Peter slammed the gate closed just as the wolves slammed into it, trying desperately to get in. Peter breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was a close one," he said.

Jean-Luck opened the coach door and helped Olivia out. "Are you alright, ma'am?" he asked.

Olivia just nodded.

Peter turned around and gasped at an amazing sight. "Look!" he shouted toward the others. There, in front of them, just across a stone bridge was an enormous castle. It's towers seemed to stretch towards the dark clouds. Lightning flashed in the sky and seemed to make the large structure seem terrifying.

Olivia was amazed to see such a castle. "Maybe someone lives here," she said. "We could ask for help."

Peter nodded and said, "That sounds like a good idea." He then turned to Jean-Luc. "Jean-Luc, you stay out here with the coach. If the owner says we stay for the night, we'll come get you."

"Yes, sir," said Jean-Luc as he pulled out a pipe from his pocket and began to smoke.

Peter took Olivia's hand and started across the bridge towards the castle. Once they reached it, he then began to knock on the door, and then waited for an answer. "Maybe no one's home."

Just then, the door creaked open. Peter and Olivia slowly entered the dark castle. To their surprise, they found no one waiting in the entry hall.

"Did I just imagine the door opening for us?" asked Olivia in a small voice as she shivered and clung to her husband's arm.

"Only if I did as well, my dear. But we must get you to a warm, dry place before you grow worse. This seems as good a place as any."

Peter led the way into the vast entrance hall. "Hello?" he called. There was no answer. "Hello? We've lost our way in the woods, and one of our carriage horses ran off. My wife is ill, and we need a place to stay for the night until we can make our way back home tomorrow and get her treatment."

At first, there was no answer. Then, two male voices could be heard distinctly, coming out of a darkened room to the left of the entranceway.

"See? We have nothing to worry about. They are harmless travelers, and the wife is ill. If we have hearts at all, we must let them in at least for the night," said one.

"Hush," snapped the other. "I won't have them disturbing the Mistress. You know how she is these days. And if you don't keep your voice down, they'll hear us!"

"Hello? Who's there?" Peter called. He led Olivia towards the source of the voices, who continued to mutter.

"Now see what you've done, you fool! They've heard us!" said the second voice, sounding even more irritable than before.

"Perhaps it will turn out for the best," answered the first voice, then it called out, "Of course, Monsieur, Madame, you are welcome here!"

"Um… T-T-Thank you," Peter said in a stuttering voice. "W-Where are you?"

"All will be explained in due time, monsieur," the voice replied. "But you look rather cold; why not you and the miss rest over by the fireplace?"

"Oh, that would be wonderful," said Olivia.

Peter pushed the half-open door wider so that he could see into the room. It seemed to be a gracious drawing room, with comfortable chairs set up in proximity to a large fireplace, where a low fire burned. Its heat washed over Peter and Olivia, and both of them sighed gratefully at the same moment. They took a moment to let their eyes adjust to the fire's flickering light.

"I do hope it's warm enough, monsieur," the voice spoke, echoing around the room. "Worst weather we've had all season."

"Peter?" asked Olivia. "Would you help me sit down in front of the fire, please?"

"Of course, darling," Peter replied, steadily lowering his wife onto a chair. "Easy now. There we go… Nice and warm."

Olivia smiled as she sat comfortably in the red felt chair, feeling the warmth of the flickering fire warming her cold, frail body. "Oh… Lovely."

"Don't worry, my dear, we'll get you all warmed up and we'll be out of here once the storm clears," Peter assured, before turning towards one end of the room. "We want to thank for the hospitality, monsieur; where are you anyway?"

Peter looked all round the room, but still all he could hear inches from where he and his wife stood was silence. Even with the warm fire illuminating the room, the room was still rather dark out and barely a shadow could be seen on the walls. Yet, Peter couldn't help but hear as though some furniture moving around, as if one of the servants was readjusting some discarded objects in the dark. Still, it made Peter all the more concerned. He knew for certain they weren't alone, but why would the servants not show themselves? If there were any servants, that is.

"Perhaps they're shy," Olivia suggested.

"Maybe…Or maybe they just haven't visitors in a while," Peter assumed. "Wait… Do you hear that?"

At that moment, Peter thought he heard the pitter and patter of footprints outside the room. Only, this wasn't human footprints, it sounded as though an animal got loose in the house. Except Peter wasn't hearing a dog or a cat, he'd know that. No, there was clearly an animal wandering through the house… But a completely different animal. Course, what animal it was, Peter couldn't say for sure and even Olivia started to get curious.

"What is that?" She asked.

And then quite suddenly, a light began to shine in the far corner of the room. Curious, Peter motioned for Olivia to stay by the fireplace. He slowly approached that one area of the room hoping to run into one of the servants before he or she walked out. Peter got closer and closer… But then his expression of expectation turned into confusion. All he could see, laid in position on a desktop, was a candelabra and a clock of sorts. Other than that, there was no one else there. Peter turned from side-to-side to see if maybe he had already past one of the servants.

"Hello?" Peter called out. "I just wished to thank you for letting us in."

Suddenly, a pair of eyes opened from the candelabra and looked up at Peter, who looked stunned for a moment.

"Bonjeour, monsieur!" The candelabra replied with a smile.

Peter gave out a yelp of surprise and tumbled down to the floor, as the candelabra looked down at him. From back at the fire place, Olivia heard her husband fall to the ground and turned toward that portion of the room.

"Honey, what happened?" Olivia called out. "Who's in here?"

Peter tried to answer, but his constant stuttering prevented him from doing so.

A face appeared on the clock and it turned toward the candelabra, who looked back at it. Clearly, the clock was rather annoyed with the rash candelabra.

"Well now you've done it, Lumiere!" The clock spoke. "Splendid! Just peachy!"

"Y-You-You…" Peter stuttered. "You two…can talk?"

"Why, of course!" the candelabra called Lumiere graciously stated. "Though I do apologize if I have startled you and your wife, monsieur."

"Peter!" Olivia started to get up. "Is there someone else in the room?"

Peter paused for a bit before finally saying,"…You could say that."

Olivia started to get concerned and went over to where Peter was standing. Olivia looked rather concerned seeing that Peter's attention was on a candelabra and a clock. But that was when she started to see their faces and their eyes blinking. Olivia wasn't scared, yet she couldn't help but feel intrigued by what she was seeing.

"What trickery is this?" Olivia asks softly.

"No trickery, I assure you, madam," the clock reassured. "Though it would be rather difficult to explain this to you."

"Oh Cogsworth, let's not speak of sore subjects now," Lumiere replied. "I say, where did you two come from anyway?"

"Well, uh… I'm Peter La'Belle, and this is my wife, Olivia," said Peter. "As we've said before, we're lost and my wife needs medical treatment. I think she's coming down with something."

"We were wondering if, perhaps…we could stay for the night," Olivia spoke up. "Our valet is waiting outside, just in case."

Lumiere and Cogsworth looked at each other, a look of concern on their faces. But between the two, Cogsworth looked the most concerned. Just as he was about to say something, Olivia immediately started coughing again. Only this time, it was much more violently and near uncontrollable. Now Cogsworth had an even bigger reason to show concern. I this condition looks as serious as he thinks, he didn't have to be a Doctor to know what ails the poor woman.

"Oh Cogsworth," said Lumiere. "Have a heart."

"Oh dear, oh dear, this is worse than I thought," Cogsworth spoke then sighed. "All right. The least we can do is see what's wrong with her. If it's what I think it is, she's going to require medical assistance."

"Oh, thank you!" Peter said, smiling. "Thank you, so much."

Cogsworth then cleared his throat and clapped his hands. "Miss Doe," he called out. "We require your assistance. One of our "guests" is very sick."

At that very moment, someone walked into the room, wheeling in a tea tray. Peter and Olivia slowly turned and what they saw surprised the two. Pushing the cart in front of her, it appeared to be a doe, but with human qualities. This anthropomorphic doe, garbed in a blue dress and white apron, halted the cart right by the couple. She turned to both Lumiere and Cogsworth.

"You called, sirs?" She asked in a kind voice.

The two pieces of furniture motioned to the couple standing before them, Peter and Olivia still displaying a look of surprise seeing this Anthropomorphic Doe before them. Still, she paid no heed to their utter shock and simply gave a motherly smile.

"Hello, dears. Would you care for a spot of tea? This should warm you up, just popped off the fire."

"Oh yes," Olivia says. "That's very kind of you."

Miss Doe slowly poured a cup of tea and carefully handed it to Olivia. "Here you are, Madam."

Olivia softly blew the tea gently, to let the steam simmer down nicely. She then took a gentle sip of the tea, it's hot water and herbs warming her up nicely. Olivia had never tasted anything sweet as this special brew that was given to her. Olivia let loose a sigh of relief as she started to feel better. She turned to Peter, her husband happy to see his beloved wife looking brighter. He turned to Miss Doe with a smile.

"Thank you."

Miss Doe nodded, saying, "My pleasure, sir."

* * *

As Peter and Olivia got settled into the castle, Jean-Luc had been standing outside most of the night. Still waiting by the coach and while the remaining horse rested, Jean-Luc passed the time smoking his pipe. By now, it started getting rather quiet inside the castle and that troubled Jean-Luc greatly. He began to worry about the fate of his employers.

"What's taking them so long?" he asked himself.

Jean-Luc let a puff of smoke escape his lips, the tobacco making him cough slightly. Removing the pipe from his mouth, Jean-Luc strolled over to the side of the bridge and tossed out some tobacco into the moat. As he watched the ashes simmer and sink into the water, Jean-Luc thought he saw someone's reflection. Confused, Jean-Luc turned upward to one of the smaller towers. His attention turned to one particular tower and Jean-Luc swore he saw a figure of sorts looming over him in the darkness. Being that it was rather dark, Jean-Luc could hardly see who it was. But quite possibly, it was not happy to see him… And it didn't look human.

Jean-Luc's mouth dropped open and his pipe fell to the ground. "Oh god…" Quickly, he reached into his pant leg and pulled out a flintlock pistol. "Halt!" Jean-Luc aimed the gun, it shook in his hand. "Stay there… Don't come any closer!"

The figure on the tower cocked its head to one side, Jean-Luc still shaking out of his wits. The mysterious being hopped down off the tower, landing nimbly in front of the valet. In that one moment, it didn't move from where it landed. It just stared down at this man as if looking past his expressions and gestures, piercing deeply into his soul. It sensed a deep fear inside him, the man finding it difficult to keep a straight face.

It finally made a move, taking a step close to the valet. BANG! A shot was fired, but the shot didn''t hit the figure. In fact, Jean-Luc intentionally missed the figure and merely fired a warning shot.

"I said don't come any closer!"

But that was without a doubt, possibly the worst thing Jean-Luc could've done. Suddenly, the pupils on the stranger's face turned small and it unveiled it's fangs, displaying it's inhumanity. Then, with a growl, it lunged toward the man, before he could unload another shot. So fast this creature approached, he didn't have time to scream.

* * *

Back in the castle, Peter and Olivia were just settling in by the fire as Miss Doe was preparing another cup of tea. At first, they felt at peace and nearly forgot their troubles. But the silence was broken by a loud, shrilling scream coming from outside the castle.

"Sacrebleau!" exclaimed Lumiere. "What on earth was zat?"

"It's Jean-Luc!" Peter realized. "My God, we left him outside!"

"What do you suppose could've happened to him?" Olivia asked in a frightened tone.

"Oh no…" Cogsworth silently spoke. "Not again."

Just then, the doors to the room flew open and the fire in the fireplace was immediately extinguished by a huge gust of wind. Olivia huddled to Peter, the man doing his best to look brave for his wife. But just as Olivia seemed scared of what was coming toward the door, even Peter could not hide his own fear. Their fear only increased as something emerged in the door frame.

Though they couldn't really see the creature, Peter and Olivia were in deep fear of the approaching monstrosity. But what really frightened them to most was what was the creature itself was dragging: Jean-Luc, their valet, still alive but unconscious.

The creature then laid its eyes on the La'Belle couple, who quivered in fear at the very sight of it. "Who are you?! What are you doing here?!" the creature spoke, in a stern voice. Clearly this creature was female, as her voice echoed throughout the room.

"P-P-P-Please forgive us…" Peter stuttered. "We meant no harm… My wife and I… We were lost in the woods and…we just wanted a place to stay for the night."

"LIARS!" The creature responded, fiercely. "You just want to hurt me, like this man tried to do!"

"Oh no," Olivia pleaded. "Please, we would never do such a thing! Jean-Luc was probably just-"

"SILENCE!" The creature shouted. "I know why you've come! You've come here to kill me, haven't you?! Yes, that's it… You've come to kill the BEAST, haven't you?! Yes, yes! Kill the BEAST! Kill the horrible, ugly, monstrous BEAST before it's too late!"

For a moment, they just stared each other down and the Beast breathed deeply as it stared down at the humans. Olivia noticed a single tear fall down the Beast's cheek, only for it to wipe it's face with it's paw. Finally, after a moment of silence, it was clear a decision had been made.

"Well I won't let you! This is MY home; MY castle! And I will not tolerate intruders!"

The Beast then lunged toward the La'Belles, lifting one in each arm effortlessly and stalked out of the room.

"And I will make sure you're in a place where you'll never be able to hurt me!"

The La'Belles cried for mercy, but it all proved fruitless. The doors slammed shut, leaving Miss Doe, Lumiere, and Cogsworth alone in the room with Jean-Luc laid out along the floor and feeling utterly dreadful of the terrible fate that awaited the La'Belles.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Written by me and Wrestlemaniac829.**

Morning dawned over the La'Belle farm. Frederick was wide awake and getting dressed. Today was the day that he would meet his wife-to-be and her family, he already knew Gaston and regretted it. While he was looking for his socks in his drawer, he noticed a piece of paper laying at the bottom. he pulled it out and stared at it. It was a crayon drawing of a young girl that he had drawn some time ago. Frederick sighed as he looked at the picture.

Just then, his maid, Hildegarde, came into the room. "Master Frederick?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Frederick turned around to see Hildegarde standing by the door. She was a rather lanky woman with curly red hair that matched the color on her cheeks. She wasn't a tall woman but she was close around Frederick's height. She glanced at Frederick for the moment, her eyes never looking away from the piece of paper held in Frederick's hands.

"Good morning, Hildegarde," he said.

"What is that piece of paper in your hands, sir?"

It was only then that Frederick noticed that he still held the drawing in his hand. For a moment, he didn't say a word but rather looked back at the piece of art held in his hands. Then, he let loose a slight chuckle.

"You caught me."

Frederick then showed Hildegarde the drawing. As she looked, He explained the meaning behind the sketch drawing.

"I drew this picture of this girl I met. It was around ten years ago, I was just walking through the woods one morning when I saw her. She had this cut on her leg; I decided to help her out. So I wrapped a bandage around it."

Hildegarde looked closely at the drawing, noticing that the girl had a slender face, dark brown hair, blue eyes and rose red lips. Hildegarde smiled. "She looks very pretty."

"Indeed," Frederick replied, then let loose a sigh. "I remember it all so well: We laughed and played together in the woods, but in all that time I never asked what her name was. So then I suggested that we'd meet again in the woods with the hopes that I would ask her then. The next day, I went into the woods to see her just as we promised. I was to give her this picture I drew for her as a present. But when I arrived... She wasn't there. So I waited and waited… But I never saw her again."

After that last sentence, a tear almost formed in his eye as Frederick finished the tale.

Hildegarde patted his shoulder. "You loved her, didn't you?" she asked.

"Honestly Hilda, I don't really know how I felt," Frederick replied. "It's been ten years, ten 'long' years, and to this day, I still don't know what happened to her."

Hildegarde turned Frederick's head to look at her, till they both saw each other eye-to-eye.

"If I may suggest sir, I think it's best to leave the past behind. It's better to keep your mind on the present and move on to embrace the future. Otherwise, if all you think about is the past, your life will be as lazy as a barnacle on a sea rock."

"When you're right, you are right," Frederick replied with a smile. "Well, best be ready I suppose. The Le'Roux family's expecting me today. I would hate to keep them waiting."

"Indeed not, sir," Hildegarde answered. She miles and leaves the room, as Frederick grabs for his coat hanging by the door.

Sometime later, Frederick had just arrived at the Le'Roux Family manor, as he stood before the first-class complex. It was quite a walk for him to reach the house without the carriage, the Manor was practically on the other side of the town. Once he reached the house, he stood there in awe at the sight of it.

_'I hope Jean-Luc's right,'_ Frederick thought. _'That Gaston is the only mean one in the family.'_

With a deep breath, he knocked on the door to the manor. The door opened and Frederick was quickly greeted by Gaston an older gentleman. For a moment, Frederick could've sworn that this gentleman looked just like Gaston. With the exception of his gray hair and looked all the more distinguished than Gaston. He wore a blue frock coat over a shirt with full sleeves, gathered at the wrist and dropped shoulder. He also wore knee-length breeches of matching colors with a full-front opening and wore brown boots. It took Frederick a moment to recognize that this was Gaston's father.

"Freddy," said Gaston. "You made it." He then pointed at the older man. "This is my father, Gustov Le'Roux. "

"Well hello," said Mr. Le'Roux. "It's a pleasure. Welcome to our home."

"Thank you, Mr. Le'Roux," said Frederick. "But I thought the groom wasn't allowed to see the bride until the wedding."

Gaston chuckled and said, "Well, we decided not to wait." He then grabbed Fred's collar. "If that isn't a problem with you."

"Gaston!" said Mr. Le'Roux. "That is certainly no way to treat a new member of our family. Either you treat Mr. La'Belle with respect, or else!"

Gaston sighed and let go of Frederick. "Yes, father." He then walked out of the room, leaving Frederick alone with his father.

Frederick breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Mr. Le'Roux," he said.

"Please," Mr. Le'Roux chuckled. "Call me dad. After all, you're going to be my son-in-law in a few days."

"Yes sir."

"Speaking of which, where are your parents."

"Oh, they're in Paris visiting some old friends."

Mr. Le'Roux nodded. "Well, make yourself comfortable. My daughter will be down in a minute." He then walked off, leaving Frederick alone in the living room.

Frederick sat down on a small chair with pillows and waited. He thought about how the marriage would help his family, but he also thought about the girl he told Hildegarde about. He did have feelings for her, but wasn't sure to tell anyone, even his new wife.

"Mr. La'Belle?" asked a small voice.

Frederick sat up and saw a young woman wearing a cream-colored wedding dress of sorts with a black neck-band around her petite neck. She also had long black hair and green eyes.

"You must be Gabriella," he said.

"I am," said the girl.

Frederick smiled sheepishly. "That's a…lovely dress you're wearing."

"Thank you, Mr. La'Belle," Gabriella replied. "It's nothing fancy. Just a hand-me-down from my mother."

"Please, call me Frederick." Frederick adjusted his collar. "I mean, after all, we are to be m-m-m-…m-m-"

"Married?" Gabriella finished. "Oh yes, of course." She then noticed that Frederick's collar was loose. "I notice that your collar is loose. Did my brother bully you?"

Frederick sighed. "Yes… He did."

"I understand," Gabriella smiled. "My brother can be a real pain in the neck sometimes… A lot actually. But pay my brother no mind, it's just in his nature to be… Well, a bit of a brute."

"Brute? He's a real gorilla if you ask me."

Gabriella actually laughed at that little comment, though it came out as more of a soft giggle than a real laugh.

"Yes indeed," Gabriella sighed. "Frederick, I was wondering… Would you like to go on a walk with me?"

"Um…" Frederick gulped nervously. "Sure."

* * *

Upon leaving the Le'Roux manor, Frederick and Gabriella took a walk into the woods. It was right along the outskirts of the village and at this hour, they had no worries of encountering any wildlife. For during the day, most animals tended to avoid people at all costs. Being in the woods at this hour gave Frederick a sense of peace. As if all his troubles seemed to fade in this calm atmosphere.

"I must admit, it's nice out today," Frederick spoke quietly.

"It is, " answered Gabriella, smiling. "Winter is my favorite time of year. The sound of leaves crunching as you tread upon them, the brisk wind blowing through your hair, and pretty soon, the whole ground will be covered in a beautiful blanket of snow. It's almost like waking up and seeing a completely different world."

As Frederick listened to her speak, he soon started to develop some interest. Here Frederick assumed that Gabriella would be just like Gaston, never considering the possibility that perhaps there was something unique about this girl. The way Gabriella described his home during the winter, it was like every word that was spoken came from the mind of a poet. He felt the paper in his pocket and began to think it over. Then, he took his hand out of the pocket and simply shook his head.

_'Hildegarde is right,' _Frederick thought. _'Maybe it's time to let go of the past and embrace the future.' _Frederick looked back to Gabriella. "Gabriella?"

"Yes, Frederick?" Gabriella asked.

Frederick takes a deep breath and decides to take advantage of this moment. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you. I…"

All of a sudden, just as Frederick was finally about to speak, a loud neigh caused the two to turn. Rushing through the trees, a loose horse ran through in a state of panic. It kept running until the horse stopped and reared just inches from both Gabriella and Frederick. Judging from the looks of the horse, it looked as if something scared the wits out of this proud creature.

Gabriella gasped. "Where did this horse come from? she asked.

Frederick noticed a broken harness hanging off it's back. He strolled toward the horse, calming the creature down with a small pat around the nose. That was when he noticed his family emblem embedded on the rears.

"It's one of my family's coach horses!" Frederick said. "This was hooked up to the coach that was taking them to Paris. But this horse wouldn't just abandon the coach, unless… Unless something went wrong!"

"Oh my!" Gabriella looked worried. "You think they could be hurt?"

Frederick looked from Gabriella then back to the horse, back and forth. If Frederick's parents were hurt, he wouldn't know what to do. It would take hours for the whole village to look for them and who knows how far they went. Still, Frederick looked up with a serious expression.

"I have to find them!" Frederick quickly unhooked the broken harness and hopped onto the horse's back.

Gabriella walked up to Frederick and held his hand. "Be careful, Frederick," She said, worryingly.

"Don't worry about me, Gabriella," Frederick said assuredly. "This isn't goodbye. I'll find my parents and I will come back. I promise."

Frederick gave a kick to the horse and he rode off deep into the woods, as Gabriella looked on from where she stood. Riding deeper and deeper through the forest, Frederick had some measure of doubt whether he'd find his parents or not. All he could do was hope and pray for their safety. But still and all, no matter what it took and no matter what Frederick would have to do, he would not return home until he found them.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: This chapter is written by me, SamoaPheonix9 and Wrestlemaniac829.**

Frederick had been trotting through the woods till nightfall. By now, he found himself passing through an unknown portion of the woods, a place that hadn't been explored in years. The trees were beginning to look misshaped and grotesque. A thick fog built over, covering the ground, and the moon glowed an eerie whitish yellow. Soon, the horse came to a stop in front of a tall iron gate. Beyond the gate was an enormous castle, something Frederick had never seen before.

_'What is this place?'_ Frederick thought.

Curious, Frederick dismounted the horse and opened the gate. There, he saw his parents' coach, sitting there without the other horse. Quickly, he ran towards it, opened the door and looked inside. There wasn't a trace of his parents inside. From where he stood, there was only "one" possibility of what could've happened. Slowly, Frederick turned back to the castle and towards the enormous doors leading inside.

_'Maybe…they're in the castle,'_ He thought.

Frederick took a big gulp and headed for the castle. He stood in front of the huge doors, then slowly pushed them open and walked inside. It was very dark inside and the only sources of light were reflected from the windows onto the floor. Still, Frederick knew his parents were around somewhere. He didn't know where they were, but it felt as though he could feel their presence somewhere.

"Hello?" he called out into the darkness. "Is anyone here? Mother? Father? Jean-Luc? Where are you?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the drawing room, Lumiere and Cogsworth paced back and forth on a small table. it was clear that something was troubling the two, both were concerned but for different reasons. Lumiere attempted to remain utterly calm about the matter, but the nerves were clearly building for this clock-work figure.

"Oh yes," Cogsworth spoke. "Just had to convince me to let them stay, didn't you? Well, now they're in the dungeon!"

"Excuse me for trying to be hospitable," Lumiere retorted. "Besides, you were the one concerned for the woman's health."

"What did you expect? You and I could clearly see she was suffering. I've only seen very few people with those kind of symptoms. Unless she is given the proper medication, she won't get any better. And being in the dungeon is only get to make it worse!"

Just then, a figure stormed into the room, practically pushing through the doors. It was a tall anthropomorphic cat, a gray cat with a powdered wig on his head and a striped tail sticking out his trousers. He wore a dark green coat over a light green vest both with golden buttons. He wore a white collar around his neck, in addition to dark green pants, and a monocle over one eye. This creature walked into the room with a frown on his face, as he wiped his brow with a handkerchief from his shirt pocket. Cogsworth turned to look at the cat.

Cogsworth turned to look at the cat. "Well, Manx," he said. "How are they?"

"What do you think?" Manx said. "Her fever is getting higher, her forehead's burning up, and she's losing a ton of fluids. She's getting worse and worse every hour she spends in that cold cell. I told the Mistress she should be moved to a much warmer environment, but she wouldn't listen!"

Cogsworth turns to Lumiere. "What did I tell you, Lumiere? I knew this would happen!"

"It's not my fault," said Lumiere. "If you weren't such a worry-wart-"

"It's both your fault!" interrupted Manx.

Lumiere and Cogsworth stared at him with confusion.

"What do you mean our fault?" asked Cogsworth.

"If I had known about this, I would've led them out of here even before the mistress ever found out. I would've made certain that the woman received proper care. But because of you and your big mouths-"

Cogsworth gritted his teeth. "Now listen here. You are assistant head of this household, nothing more. I am head of the household, you don't talk back to me OR him like that ev-"

"Hello?" interrupted a mysterious voice.

The call from an anonymous voice caused the trio to turn toward the door. Slowly, Manx, Cogsworth and Lumiere peered out through the door, that was opened just slightly, and saw a young man in a dark blue coat and a brown tri-cornered hat wondering through the castle halls. They saw the man walk through the halls; yet, they could hardly believe it themselves.

"It can't be," Manx whispered, adjusting his monocle.

"It's a young man," said Lumiere.

"We can clearly see that, Lumiere!" answered Cogsworth.

"Don't you see? He's the one, the one that we have been waiting for. He has come to break the spell!"

"Wait a minute, Lumiere," said Manx. "We can't rush off into these sort of things. We'll have to see what the Mistress will make of him."

Lumiere and Cogsworth turned to each other and nodded their heads. If what they believed was true, perhaps the Mistress could see that this man could be the one to resolve all their problems. They slowly closed the door to the living room, so as to carefully plan their next step.

* * *

Frederick stepped down through the vast hallways, the only sounds were his footsteps echoing off the walls and his breathing. All of a sudden, he came to a halt. Now Frederick heard another set of breathing, which was much heavier than his own. Something stood before him from within the blackness, barely illuminated with but a small spot of light on the floor. Though he couldn't see who or what was front of him, all Frederick could see was a pair of piercing blue eyes glaring at him. A twinge of terror crept over his body, for as he stared, those very same eyes stare back.

"Who are you?"

From the direction of the eyes, Frederick could hear a female voice. Frederick didn't know how to respond to that question, his fear still holding him back. Clearly, whoever spoke to Frederick was growing impatient.

"What are you doing here?"

Frederick cleared his throat and ignored the fear that swept over his body. "Are you the master of this castle?" he asked.

"I am," answered the voice, with more than a hint of a growl. "Now answer my questions."

"M-My name is Fredrick La'Belle," Fredrick answered, trying to keep the tremor from his voice, "And I came here to find my parents and their valet."

"What makes you think they're here?" snapped the voice.

"Well, our coach is right outside your door," answered Fredrick, his puzzlement overcoming his fear for a moment. "Do you have them? Where are they?"

There was a rumbling growl. "They are my prisoners."

"Oh, no!" gasped Fredrick, "Please let them go. I'll do anything to free them. You have to believe me."

"I doubt that," said the voice. There was a hard edge to the sound. "There's nothing you can do." The eyes, the presence, began to fade back into the darkness.

"Wait!" Fredrick called after it. The eyes reappeared, but nothing else. Fredrick considered for few moments. He knew what he had to do, but that didn't make it an easy thing to say. The eyes blinked once, and Fredrick swallowed his nerves. "Take me instead."

"You? One man for all three of them?" the voice said derisively. "Hardly a fair bargain."

Fredrick's stomach clenched, and his hopes fell. "It's all I have to offer. But if you won't release them, can I at least…see them?" He bowed his head, and as he did so a flash of his profile caught the spot of light coming from the ceiling. He blinked the brightness from his eyes and prepared to back away.

He heard a sharp intake of breath that was not his own. After a moment, the voice asked, very softly, "Could you…come into the light?"

"Excuse me?" Fredrick asked, a bit startled.

The voice did not reply, but Fredrick did as he had been requested anyway. He took a step forward and let the light fall full on his features. The rest of the castle, and the eyes, disappeared into the surrounding darkness as his eyes were dazzled from the unaccustomed light. He held his ground, though he knew the monster in the shadows could leap on him while he was blinded, if she so chose.

Several seconds passed in silence.

At last, the voice said, "Very well. We have a bargain."

"Really?" Fredrick took a step forward, out of the light. "Just like that? You'll let them go?"

"I said I would, didn't I?" answered the voice testily. "You promise to stay here, and they go free."

"For how long? How long must I stay?" This was a loophole Fredrick hadn't considered before.

The shape moved in the darkness, as if recoiling a little. "As long as they would have stayed. Forever. Do I have your word?"

Frederick was silent for a moment before he finally replied, "You come into the light."

For a moment, she didn't give a response to the man's request. She simply remained standing at that same spot. If Frederick didn't know any better, he would've imagined that she was scared. After a few seconds, she finally spoke.

"…No."

Frederick was right; judging from the tone, she was afraid to step forward. From someone that seemed to strike fear in Frederick, he didn't expect such a tone to come out of her.

"I thought we had a deal," Frederick spoke. "How can I give my word to remain in this castle if I don't at least look upon the face of the castle's owner?"

In response, Frederick heard a deep sigh passing through the endless darkness. Finally, the mysterious being put one foot in front of the other. Frederick was shocked to see that her feet weren't human… They looked animal with dark stripes. As she stepped closer, Frederick's eyes examined the girl's entire frame and widened as he came to realize who he was staying with. The owner of the castle was a beastly figure. She had a wolf-like tail that stuck out from under her aged ragged green dress, a purple cape wrapped round her shoulders along with a hood, dark tiger-like stripes appeared around her body, a kangaroo-like face with bits of wolf incorporated into it, along with blue human-like eyes, sharp claws on each of her three fingered paws and matching bands round the wrists, and fluffy brown hair with a pair of black ram horns round her long-pointed fox-like ears. Her body was covered completely with fur. Mostly tanish brown mixed with a lighter creamier shade. Frederick had never seen such a specimen before. it scared him, but intrigued him at the same time.

"There…" She spoke. "Are you happy now?

Fredrick swallowed, but there was nothing else to do. "I promise," he said. "You have my word that I'll stay here, if you let my parents and Jean-Luc go free."

"Very well. Come with me, then."

The Beast led Fredrick around several corners, before stopping in front of an open door that had light spilling out of it. "Wait here," she ordered, and stalked inside. Fredrick heard voices inside the room, and then the Beast returned to the hall. She held a lit candelabra with three branches in one paw. If Fredrick didn't know better, he would have sworn there was a face carved into the middle candle, but he was not given time to examine it closely.

The Beast whirled around and began leading him down the corridor again. She spoke over her shoulder as she walked. "I have given orders to my servants that your parents and valet are to be returned to their coach immediately. They will be told of your bargain before they leave."

"You mean…I can't see them? We're not even allowed to say goodbye?" Fredrick was taken aback by this news. He had assumed that the Beast was leading him to the dungeon, towards his parents. "Then where are we going?" he demanded.

"To your room. Unless you want to stay in the dungeon like your parents, of course." The Beast did not even turn around, but Fredrick heard the sarcasm in her voice and said nothing.

Frederick did not trust himself to speak, in any case. Not allowed to see his parents one last time! His mind was telling him to break free, to run and give them a hug goodbye, but he knew that would be useless. He would be lost in the maze of corridors that made up this castle within an instant, and probably be thrown in the dungeon himself for his pains. So he kept walking, head down, trying not to see anything. A few tears fell from his eyes nonetheless. He almost ran into his captor's back when she stopped before one of the many doors lining the corridors.

She eyed his face, taking in the tear tracks, but did not comment on them. "This is your room," she said instead. "If you need anything, my servants will attend you. This castle is your home now, so you can go anywhere you want inside or out on the grounds, except for one place. You are forbidden to go into the West Wing."

"Why…" Fredrick started to ask.

"Don't ask questions!" she snapped, and Fredrick shuddered at the number of sharp teeth displayed in the candelabra's light. He backed a step away involuntarily.

They eyed one another for a few long moments. At last, the Beast reached out and opened the door to Fredrick's room. Then she backed away to allow him space to enter. He did so, but could not make out much of the room in the darkness.

"Dinner will be served in one hour," the Beast said from behind him. "I will expect to see you then."

"I'm not hungry," Fredrick answered coldly.

"It's not a request!" snapped the Beast, and slammed the door in his face.

Fredrick spun furiously and stalked around the room to the one window he could make out. Sitting on the velvet-covered window seat, he peered out into the gloom. It had begun to snow, the first really heavy snow of the winter. He could see the courtyard from this vantage point, and could just make out a coach rattling towards the gates. He watched the point where it vanished into the drifting white flakes for some time afterwards.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: This chapter was written by me, SamoaPheonix9 and Wrestlemaniac829.**

An hour had passed since Frederick was placed into his new bedroom in the castle. He was still sitting by the window, staring out at the ever growing snow storm outside. He was still thinking about how he had lost his family, and his future with Gabriella. Well, not as much. He took out the picture of the girl he had drawn out of his coat pocket. He had accidentally put it there while getting ready to meet the Le'Roux family. He sighed as he stared at it, still wondering what had happened to her on that fateful day.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Hearing this, Frederick quickly put the drawing back in his pocket.

"Who's there?" he asked.

"Miss Doe, sir," came a voice from behind the door.

Frederick sat up, walked over and opened the door. There, standing in the doorway, was a doe, an anthropomorphic doe wearing a white shirt, a light green buttoned vest, a dark green skirt, a white apron, and wheeling in a tea tray.

Tagging along beside the doe was a much younger fawn, which appeared to be her daughter. She looked very much like the doe, except she wore a pink frilly dress as opposed to her Mother's attire. Not entirely pink of course, it was more like a salmon color, a mixture of pale pinkish-orange with a light dash of pink. Even came with matching buttons. For a fawn, there was no doubt she was as pretty as her mother.

"I thought you'd might like some tea," the doe said with a smile.

Frederick slowly began to back away in confusion. "But you...ah...but...I-" Suddenly, he bumped into a large white wardrobe.

"Oof!" said the Wardrobe, who sounded like a woman. "Careful!"

In a panic, Frederick sat down on the side of the bed. "This is impossible-"

The wardrobe leaned her 'shoulder' on bed, popping the other end and Frederick into the air. "I know it is, but here we are!"

Looking around the room, Frederick slapped a hand to his forehead and practically fell flat on the bed.

"All my years as a school teacher, I've taught my students about so many strange and wondrous things," Frederick spoke. "But never in all that time, would I ever mention talking wardrobes… OR talking deer. I'm sorry, but, everyone would think I was crazy if I ever told anyone."

The doe giggled seeing Frederick so flabbergasted, finding his take on all this both funny, and kind of cute.

"Life's full of confusing moments, young man. Oh, silly me, where are my manners? All me to introduce my self: I'm Miss Doe and this is my daughter, Katrina."

"Hello, sir," Katrina spoke, with a giggle.

Seeing the fawn giggle, Frederick slowly began to smile. For such a strange creature, Frederick actually found her rather cute. So he extended a hand towards hers.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you," Frederick sayid politely, as he lightly shook Katrina's hoof.

"We heard about what you did earlier," Miss Doe replied. "What you've done today was very brave of you."

"The whole castle admires your bravery," The Wardrobe agreed.

But even with all this praise, Frederick's smile drops into a frown. He didn't want to be reminded of what happened, especially knowing he never got to tell them goodbye. He lowered his head as he spoke.

"But at what cost?" Frederick asked. "I've not only lost my parents, but my whole future as well. So many promises I broke today and so many dreams I'll never fulfill. So I won my family's freedom… Why does it feel like I lost?"

Miss Doe couldn't help but feel bad for the young man. Miss Doe made her way to the bed and sat beside Frederick. Gently, she patted his shoulder with her hoof, causing Frederick to turn to her.

"Keep a straight chin, child," Miss Doe spoke. "Life is full of ups and downs, happiness and misery. But if there's one thing I do know is this: So long as you look on the bright side of life, you'll find everything always works out. Trust me. When the time comes, you'll know."

Just then, it was as if Miss Doe remembered something as she got up off the bed, startled.

"Ooh, goodness! Listen to me! Here I am jabbering away and there's still supper to set on the table. Well, duty calls. Come along, Katrina."

"Coming, mother," Katrina said, skipping behind her mother and out the room. As she left, Katrina turned back to Frederick and waved her hoof. "Bye, mister!"

Frederick stood up and waved goodbye to Katrina, as the Wardrobe approached the young man.

"Well, now with that out of the way," said the Wardrobe. "I hope you understand that this is without a doubt a formal dinner."

"Actually, I…" Frederick was about to protest.

"Son, do you even know what you intend to wear?"

Frederick looked down at himself, gazing at the attire he wore all day, and gave a shrug.

"Uh-huh… That's what I thought," the Wardrobe figured.

The Wardrobe opened her drawers and looked for something suitable for Frederick to wear.

"Well, I'm sure we'll find something to dress you in. Just because it's a dinner, doesn't mean we don't want you to look smashing."

After quite a bit of searching, she opened one door and extended an arm inside. The arm pullsed out a fashionable green suit, appearing as if it hasn't been worn in years.

"Ah yes! Magnifique! A ravishing uniform for a ravishing young man like yourself. Well go on, try it on… I sure hope it fits after all these years. Hasn't been worn in years, but…"

"That's very kind of you," Frederick interrupted, placing the suit down. "But I have no intention of dining with the Mistress tonight."

"Oh, are you mad? Attending this dinner is a must in this household. The Mistress will be very angry, if not disappointed, if you're not down there."

Fredrick just simply folded his arms and stared back at the window. "Does it look like I care? Just tell the Mistress I won't..."

Just then. Cogsworth the clock waddled in. "Ahem, ahem, ahem. Dinner…is served." He said, smiling.

* * *

Downstairs, the Beast was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace. "What's taking so long?" she growled, more to herself than to Lumiere and Miss Doe, who were also in the room.

"Try to be patient with the young man, m'lady. He's lost a lot today; he needs some time to get over the shock," Miss Doe pointed out.

"Mistress," said Lumiere casually from where he was lighting the final candles on the elaborately set table, "Have you thought that perhaps this young man might be the one to break the spell at last?"

"Lumiere, of course I have," the Beast snapped. "Don't patronize me; I'm no longer a child. But you should see the way he looks at me… It's like he'd rather he were anywhere but in the room with me." She shuddered.

Neither servant had a reply for this. After a minute's silence, Lumiere ventured, "Mistress? Out of curiosity, why did you decide to let him exchange himself for his parents? It seemed an… unusual move."

The Beast sighed, her temper fading for the moment. "I recognized him, Lumiere."

Both servants were taken aback. "Recognized him? From where?" asked Miss Doe.

"It was the same day… The day I found the rose. You remember, I was playing in the forest, and I slipped away from my guardians. I had tripped over a branch, and cut my leg. I was sitting there, crying, when a boy from the village found me. He was only a few years older than me, maybe twelve or thirteen, but he was so friendly, and gentle. He bandaged my leg and told me stories until I felt better. It was so nice to be treated like a normal person that I didn't tell him who I was. He offered to escort me home, but I turned him down. I was afraid that someone would think he had kidnapped me if we were seen together. So I told him I would come back to see him, and walked towards the palace alone…" Her voice trailed off.

The servants knew what had happened next. They all had had to live with the consequences every day.

"I've often wondered what became of that boy," the Beast continued, her blue eyes far away. "And when I saw him again upstairs, I felt as though I owed it to him to return the favor he did me that day by allowing him to exchange himself for his parents and their servant."

Miss Doe and Lumiere said nothing, but exchanged significant looks behind their mistress's back.

"But now he's here. For good. I made him promise to stay. And I don't know what to do with him. What do I know about love?"

"Well, the best way to start would be to make good impression at dinner," Miss Doe offered.

"Ah, oui," cried Lumiere excitedly, "Impress him with your manners and your witty conversation."

"But don't talk his ear off, either," put in Miss Doe. "Give him a chance to feel at ease and tell you about himself."

"And most important of all," Lumiere said, before he and Miss Doe spoke simultaneously: "You must control your temper!"

The door handle to the room creaked. All three of the room's occupants spun to face it with expressions of apprehension, but it was only Cogsworth, poking his head in nervously. "Good evening!" he said, quickly.

"Well?" asked the Beast after a moment, during which it became clear that Cogsworth did not intend to start talking. "Where is he?"

"Who?" said Cogsworth, for a second or two looking genuinely startled. Then he gave a few fainthearted chuckles at his 'joke' and continued. "Oh, the young man. Well, to come right to the point, circumstances being what they are… He says he's not coming."

Lumiere and Miss Doe slightly gasped in response to Cogsworth's announcement. Nervously, they turned to The Beast. The Mistress at first didn't show any emotion. She was practically frozen in place, but they could bet that there was deep anger swelling up inside and any moment she would burst.

"Perhaps Lumiere and I better go on up and talk to Frederick, Miss," Miss Doe offered.

"Ah, oui," Lumiere agreed. "Perhaps we should…"

"No." The Beast spoke. "It was my idea for him to come down to dinner. I'll go talk to him."

"But…" They both protest.

"I said… I. Will. Talk to him." The Beast spoke.

With a sigh, they stepped aside as The Beast walked ahead of them. The way she paced it was not really much of a run, but neither was it a walk either. In a sense, this was a mixture of both and the determination on her face said it all. She would get Frederick down to the Dining Hall for dinner no matter what she'd have to do to make it so. Cautiously, the others followed The Beast to ensure she didn't overdo it.

Picking up her pace, The Beast strolled toward Frederick's door and proceeded to pound on it with all her might before Frederick finally responded.

"What?"

"I believe I had made a request for you to come down to dinner!"

"And I believe I told you I had no desire for food!" Frederick shouted. "I'm not hungry!"

"Young man, if you do not come down to the Dining Hall right now, I'll…"

"Mistress!" Manx shouted, the cat running in from down the hallway. He stood in front of the Beast, straightening his collar and clearing his throat.

"Pardon the interruption, Mistress, but unless this is an attempt to win the man's affections…I don't believe it's working."

"Manx is right," Cogsworth spoke. "We're not just asking you, we're telling you: Please! Attempt to act like a lady!"

"You don't think I'm trying?" The Beast asked. "Why must he is be so… So… Difficult!" She then turned her attention to the door and shouted: "Why are YOU being so difficult?"

"Why are YOU acting like a child?"

Just as The Beast was about to respond, Miss Doe grabbed a hold of her arm with her hooves. She turned around as Miss Doe softly calmed her down.

"Gently… Gently."

The Beast calmed down, letting the tension ease a bit. She then took a deep breath and turned to face Frederick's door. "Will you come down to dinner?"

"No!" came Frederick's quick answer.

The Beast looked at all her servants, with an expression that said 'SEE?!'

"It's all right, it's all right," Cogsworth spoke assuredly. "Just try again, more calmly…"

"The clock's right, and it's highly important to keep a straight posture," Manx added, massaging her shoulders. "Be sincere, be kind..."

The Beast tried to act formal, grabbing her cape and curtsying at the door. Her tail wagging in annoyance.

"It would give me great pleasure...if you would join me for dinner."

"Ahem, ahem," Cogsworth suggested. "We say 'please.'"

The Beast sighed. "Please?"

"No, thank you!" Frederick said once again.

"What!? You're just going to sit in that bedroom forever?"

"Maybe I should, considering I AM your prisoner, after all! What did you expect me to do? Come out of this room, sit on some chair, act like nothing ever happened, put on a happy face and smile? You sent my family away from me! And you expect me to simply forgive you over dinner? I'd rather starve to death in here than dine with someone who is so cold and cruel and locks up poor innocent people! You're an inhuman monster!"

The Beast was filled with rage. But instead of roaring out with anger, she began to cry. She then covered her face with her paws and ran off into the darkness of the hallways

"Oh my," Miss Doe replied. "This didn't go as well as we had hoped?"

"I'm afraid not, Miss Doe," Cogsworth agreed. "At this rate, we'll never end this dreadful curse."

"Don't ever say 'never' Cogsworth," Manx replied. "I'll have a word with the Mistress once she calms down. Until then…" Manx turned and addressed Lumiere. "Lumiere, stand watch at the door and inform me or Cogsworth at once if there is the slightest change."

Lumiere took a guard position next to door. "You can count on me, mon capitan." he said, saluting.

"Well," Cogsworth said. "I guess we better go downstairs and start cleaning up."

* * *

Upstairs, the Beast slammed her bedroom door shut, muttering to herself and wiping the tears from her eyes. The Beast was still frightfully upset at those awful words Frederick said out loud to her. But now she wasn't just sad, she was mad to the extreme.

"I ask nicely… Nicely! But NO, he refused… Does he expect me to "beg" for the pleasure of eating with him?"

For the first time in many days, she did not look at the rose as soon as she entered the room. Instead, she picked up the small hand mirror sitting on the table beside it.

"Show me the young man," she commanded.

Immediately, the mirror clouded over, then cleared to show Fredrick sitting perched on the end of his bed, talking to the Wardrobe.

"The Mistress really isn't so bad," the Wardrobe was saying, "You just have to get to know her a little more. Why not give her another chance?"

"And what difference would it make if I did get to know her?" Fredrick answered bitterly. "Quite frankly, it's a little late to change first impressions... Or second, or third. How many chances does such a monster deserve before it's clear what her nature is?"

"But, well…"

"But nothing! There's nothing you can do to change my mind. Not you or the others... Not even her! I don't want anything to do with her... Ever!"

The Beast almost dropped the mirror, or flung it across the room. But the Beast was able to control herself and remembered to place it safely down next to the wilting rose. For if she destroyed the mirror, she would lose her only window to the outside world. She padded despondently to the furthest corner of her room.

The Beasts turned and gazed at every portion of the room, as she pondered deep in thought. Everything in the room was either battered or torn. But there was this corner hidden by a set of intact, if dusty, velvet curtains. The Beast had ordered the curtains to be placed there because she could not bear to look at what was behind them. Even now, she did not draw the curtains, but spoke to them as if what they concealed could answer back.

"Mama, Papa, you would cringe if you could see me now. I can only be grateful you are spared seeing what your daughter has become. But what am I supposed to do? There is a man here who can save me, save us all, and he wants nothing to do with me. He is our last hope. Our last hope. What am I to do?"

There was no answer, as she had known there would be. She waited a few moments, wishing the two voices she most longed to hear would speak again, but nothing happened. At last, with a choking sob, the Beast fled to the balcony to stand in the snow, hiding from herself and from reality, at least for a time.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: This chapter was written by me and Wrestlemaniac829.**

Night had fallen in the village, hardly a light could be seen on the village square. The only light came from the far end of the village where the Le'Roux manor stood. The fireplace was burned brightly through the window and a figure paces back and forth in front of the fireplace. It was Gaston, walking about impatiently whilst his father sat in his chair, a hand rapping the chair handle nervously. In his other hand, he smoked from a pipe to clear his nerves a bit. For a long moment, neither man in the room said a word until Gaston finally had enough.

"Where is that man?" Gaston asked. "It's already been hours!"

"Patience, my boy," His father spoke. "My men are doing the best they can to find him. Hopefully they find him soon; no man would want to miss his own bachelor party."

Just then, they heard a knock at the door. Gaston left the room and walked toward the door to answey it.

"Hmm, that's probably them now," Gaston said.

But as soon as he opened the door, Peter and Olivia La' Belle rushed into the manor. From the expressions on their faces, they both showed a face white with fright.

"What the-?" Gaston said. "Mr. and Mrs. La'Belle, what's wrong? You look as if you've seen a ghost."

"You don't know the half of it," Peter replied, struggling to catch his breath.

"Mr. La'Belle is that you?" Mr. Le'Roux called out. "Come on in, have a seat."

Peter and Olivia walked over into the family room, taking a seat down on the couch in front of the fireplace. As soon as Mr. Le'Roux saw them come in, he noticed they looked to be in a state of grief.

"What's the matter?" Mr. Le'Roux asked. "Where's your son?"

"Please! Oh please, sir," Olivia cried. "We need your help! Frederick's been captured! She's got him locked in the dungeon!"

"Dungeon?" Mr. Le'Roux asked, removing his pipe.

"Yes!" Peter spoke. "Our son's being held prisoner in a castle! Please, we must save him! N- Not a minute to lose!"

Mr. Le'Roux stood up from his chair and turned to the butler near the door.

"Fetch me musket!" He shouted. "We must save the groom, at once!"

"Whoa!" Gaston said. "Slow down, Father."

Gaston cued the butler not to move from the door. Suspicious, Gaston approached the La'Belle family.

"Now, tell me. Who's got Frederick locked in a dungeon?"

"Well," Peter said, struggling to find the right words. "You're not going to believe this, but it was a… A… A… A-"

"A beast!" Olivia shouted, nearly jumping out of the couch. "A horrible, monstrous beast!""

The Le'Roux's sat silently for a long time, not sure what to think of it. Arms crossed, Gaston slowly approached the La'Belle's and from where they were seating they felt small compared to the man towering over them, as he looks down upon them.

"Let me get this straight," Gaston pondered. "Frederick disappears, a few days right before the wedding I might add, and the "only" excuse you can come up with is him being held prisoner by a beast?"

"Y-Y-Yes," Peter stuttered, not sure what to make of it.

Gaston smiled smugly, he had the La'Belle's where he wanted them.

"Sure… We'll help you out."

Then, Gaston began to urge The La'Belle's to the door.

"Well, thank you, Gaston!" Peter said. "Maybe Frederick was wrong about you. You're the nicest pers-"

Just then, Gaston opens the door and shoves Peter and Olivia out, knocking the couple onto the snow-covered ground and that smug smile turned into a frown.

"And stay out!"

Gaston slammed the door, rubbing his hands together as he made his way back to the living room. Mr. Le'Roux turned to see his son come back in, Gaston simply shaking his head at the scene.

"I always knew that the La'Belle's would go crazy. Doesn't that surprise you, father?"

"Nothing surprises me anymore, son," Mr. Le'Roux replied. "Except maybe your late mother." He slammed his fist onto the arm of his chair. "How could they do this to us? Insulting us with some poppycock of a tale about a beast in a castle. Do they not know who we are?"

"If you ask me, father, Freddy's run out on us with some other woman."

"… No. That's not like Frederick to do such a thing," Mr. Le'Roux said. "Frederick is a man of honor, he would "never" fancy himself with another maiden. He always keeps his word and he comes from a good family…"

Mr. Le'Roux turned to Gaston, who sees his father's expression turn to anger quickly.

"And YOU! You have the "gull" to throw out his parents like that, for no reason whatsoever! As crazy as their story sounded, they are our guests… And you did not treat them like guests. Remember: As the parents of the groom, Frederick's family is "our" family, TOO! And this is what you give as first impressions to them?"

"But father!" Gaston argued. "You can't possibly be saying you actually "believe" them? The groom a prisoner in a castle, owned by a beast? That's the talk of a nutcase!"

"Don't be so foolish, boy, there's no such a thing as a Beast," Mr. Le'Roux retorted. "However… A castle in the forest… I know about the castle."

"What do you mean?" Gaston asked.

"Years ago, this village was ruled by a Royal Family, who resided in a castle. They were good rulers, beloved by everyone in the village. But then one night, they just…disappeared. No motive, no reason, they were just…gone. Course, they never had enemies from the village or anywhere in the kingdom, so an attack on the kingdom was very unlikely. But for the La'Belle's to claim that their son is a prisoner in that very castle… It simply can't be possible. No one has lived there since the family's mysterious disappearance."

"What are you saying: That you think there's something lurking in the castle?"

"What I'm saying, Gaston, is that something strange is going on in the forest? The only clue we have to Frederick's whereabouts is the castle. That's why I'm asking "you" to hire some of the best trackers in France and start looking for him. Find the castle and you find our groom. Then, the wedding will go on as planned."

"Of course, Father. Consider it done. I happen to know just the men for the job."

Mr. Le'Roux nodded and with a flick of the wrist, he sent Gaston away, the son giving a bow and leaving the living room as the butler closed the door behind him. For a moment, Gaston stood outside the door, lost in his thoughts. He then took a deep breath and went to the other side of the first floor: The Trophy Room. Gaston closed the door behind him, locked the door with a key from his pocket. Gaston then sat down on a chair that was made from the remains of a bear.

"La'Belle… La'Belle… La'Belle! That's all I've heard all night is that wretched La'Belle name. What have they ever offered to my family? We barely even know them! And yet they expect ME to sort out "their" problems because "they" can't handle the pressure and because we offer them hospitality for "their" troubles? La'Belle… Nothing but nutcases, I've always thought them as such…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Peter helped Olivia off of the ground, brushing some snow off her body. Olivia leaned onto Peter, who feels nothing but angry for what just happened tonight.

"How dare that walking tree trunk throw us out of his house when we are in need help?"

Olivia was about to speak, but started coughing outrageously out of control. So out of control, that Olivia felt a pain on her chest and leaned on the manor wall before collapsing back into the snow.

"Olivia!" Peter felt her hand. "Oh, you're so cold… Don't worry, we'll find a Doctor and…"

Suddenly, Peter heard a voice coming from inside the house from that same wall. Judging from the sound of it, it sounded like a rant of sorts. Peter steadied Olivia onto the wall and leans by the window. He saw Gaston, who had since stood from his chair and had been pacing around the room talking to no one but himself.

"… And my father is just as mad! Feeling sorry for the La'Belle's, he even likes them more than me! I'm the most popular man in town, I'm the son of the most powerful family in France, and he, my own father, disrespects… Me! His only son! And it's all that Frederick's fault!"

He slammed his hand by the fireplace plating, which was made entirely out of gold. Gaston stared down at the fire, feeling it's heat wrap around his body.

"I should have ended this a long time ago, I should've just put him away when I had him in my grasp. Nonetheless… The plan will go on. So they find Frederick, big deal. The wedding goes on, everyone's happy… And when Frederick's all alone… He's mine. But the best part: Everyone will think it was an accident. No one will ever suspect me, these people love me and I practically have them in my grasp. Then, everything goes back to the way it was… A world without Frederick La'Belle. I'll stake my life for that…"

Gaston turned toward the plating, admiring his reflection along the plating. Just then, he noticed something was off. Gaston could see his face clearly, but then… He could also see another face. A face… Mr. La'Belle's face… Coming from the window. Gaston quickly turned around, but Mr. La'Belle was gone. Gaston hurried toward the window, but he didn't see either Peter or Olivia. But that only made it worse for Gaston… They know…

At that very moment, Peter practically had to carry Olivia back to the carriage. When Peter ran to Olivia, she had no time to ask and Peter just carried her away as far from the manor as quick as they could. When Jean-Luc attempted to ask, Peter just pushed the question aside and ordered him, if not pleaded, for him to take them back to the house. As soon as they returned home, Peter urged Jean-Luc inside the house and once they were inside, Peter gently aided Olivia to a nearby chair. The look on Peter's face made Jean-Luc see that something scared him.

"Master La'Belle, what's the matter?" Jean-Luc asked.

"… It's about Frederick… And Gaston…" Peter replied.

"What's wrong? Is everything all right?"

"… I think…our son is in trouble."


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: This chapter was written by me, Karin Skywalker and Wrestlemaniac829.**

Back in the castle, Miss Doe was just in the midst of escorting her daughter, Katrina, to bed. It had been a rather exhausting night for both of them, but the night really took so much out of Miss Doe's child. As soon as they reached the bedroom, she carefully assisted Katrina into the bed and tucked her in until she was warm and comfortable.

"There you go, my darling," Miss Doe speaks soothingly to Katrina. "Time for sleep."

"Mama?" Katrina asked with a yawn.

"Hmm?"

"Could you tell me again like you did before… Of what I was like as a girl?"

For a moment, Miss Doe felt a huge twinge in her heart. Course, it's wasn't the first time her daughter had asked her that question. And yet, no matter how many times it'd been asked, each and every time, it always became extraordinarily difficult to believe what she would tell her daughter. Still, with a gentle sigh, she answered Katrina's question with a story.

"When you first came into my life, I knew right then and there that I would be blessed with an angel from heaven. A woman like me would give anything in the world to have a daughter like you. As I watched you grow up, your smile would warm the hearts of everyone all around and I knew there was no one else I could give the greatest care than you. The prettiest child that this castle has ever had. Even more than you could ever know."

"When will I know?"

"Sooner than you think, my dear. If it's to be, that's how it is… Soon." Miss Doe kissed her on the forehead. "Good night, my little one."

Katrina then closed her eyes shut, a yawn escaping her lips, and soon the tiny form of Miss Doe's sweet angel fell fast asleep. Miss Doe looked upon her daughter with a loving smile before she blew out the candle by the table next to the bed. She slowly left the room, stepping out quietly so as not to disturb her sleep. She left the room and made her return to the kitchen. But as she entered, a single tear dropped down her face… She only wished she could believe what she said.

* * *

In his room, Frederick had been lying in his bed all through the night. For him, sleep was not going to work out for him and normally he could give many excuses for such a case. But on this night, there was only one excuse: His stomach. The constant growling had reached the point of irritation for Frederick and hunger began to overcome him. He knew it wouldn't stop even if he tried to ignore it, right then he knew what he had to do.

"Maybe I could find the kitchen and get something to eat," Frederick thought.

He slowly rose from the bed, approaching the door quietly by the tip of his toes. Frederick kept silent, not even letting out a breath so as not to stir anyone or anything in the castle. Though the door creaked softly, Frederick was able to leave once the coast was clear. It wouldn't be easy to find the kitchen, considering how big the castle was, but Frederick was willing to try.

Meanwhile, Lumiere, who was supposed to be on guard, found himself asleep by the door, not even noticing Frederick slip by him. Just then, a female blue jay approached his post. Much as the name implied, her feathers were blue and white in color. Her beak was curved ever so slightly. She had brown dimples on the sides of her head and, much like her beak, the fluff of feathers atop her head were curved to resemble a hair style. This was one of the castle maids, Babette.

"Lumiere…" Babette spoke, in a sing-song voice.

Lumiere simply responded with a snore, still fast asleep. Babette had seen this before and knew there was only one way to wake a sleeping candelabra. She stuck out her chest, took a deep breath, and, belted out in a sing-song voice.

"Lumiere!"

The sound of Babette's voice finally stirred Lumiere wide awake, briefly causing the flames in his candle hands to burst up for a moment. As soon as he turned to Babette, his surprise turned into a smile and resumed his suave persona.

"Oh Babette… Come to me, my little fluff…"

Lumiere approached Babette, and kissed her on her arms… Or in this case her wings. A few kisses, Lumiere felt something in his mouth and spit out some feathers from Babette's wings. She simply let out a small cry of shock and looked at her arms with a gasp.

"It is my hands, isn't it?!" Babette cried, seeing her feathery hands. "Oh mon dieur, you don't love me anymore!"

Babette let out a cry and covered her face with her hands. But then, she let out a quick sneeze sending a small bit of feathers flying as Lumiere tried to comfort the emotional little bird. She simply looked back at her hands with both annoyance and anger.

"Oh this horrible, horrible spell!"

"Oh cherie," Lumiere implored. "You cut me to the wig. Do you really think a little thing like zat would change my feelings for you? Ooh… Now you really… Tickle my fancy."

"Oh no."

"Oh, yes!" Lumiere teased.

"Oh, no!"

"Oh, yes, yes, yes!"

"Oh no, no, no, no, no… I've been burnt by you before!"

Lumiere lit his hands up with a laugh, Babette covered her face with her wings in embarrassment and ran off as Lumiere gave chase, forgetfully abandoning his post and not even realizing that Frederick had already left for the kitchen.

* * *

Meanwhile, downstairs toward the kitchen, every servant in the household was busy clearing up what was barely touched dinner. Some of the rodents got impatient and picked at some of the food, though one of the sterner maids whacked their arms and made them return to work. Amongst the servants there, standing in a corner, there was a stove with the appearance of a chef, along with a weasel in a chef's uniform. Clearly, judging by their expressions, they were not pleased with how this night turned out.

"We work and we slave all day, and for what?" The Stove asked, with a thick French accent.

"A culinary masterpiece gone to waste!" The Weasel answered, slamming a ladle into the wash.

"Such a shame, too," Cogsworth said. "And I was so looking forward to eating it."

"Oh, stop your grousing," Miss Doe responded. "It's been a long night for the lot of us."

"Well, if you ask me, the lad was just being stubborn," Manx added, wiping his monocle with a handkerchief. "After all, the mistress did say 'please'."

"Funny, that's the first time I actually heard the mistress say 'please'," Cogsworth agreed.

As they were discussing, Frederick peered his head into the kitchen as he slowly walked in.

"But if the mistress doesn't learn to control that temper," Miss Doe warned. "She'll never break the-"

"Splended to see you out and about, Monsieur," Cogsworth interrupted, approaching Frederick, who just entered the kitchen. "I am Cogsworth, head of the household."

At this point, being greeted by living household objects or talking animals didn't faze Frederick at all. Course, it would've been equally rude of Frederick not to at least give some formal response. So being as polite as possible, he knelt down to shake hands with the clock. After doing so, Cogsworth turned and pointed toward Manx, who stood behind him.

"This is Manx, my assistant head."

"Hello," Frederick spoke kindly, as he looked up at the tall cat.

SLAP! Manx slapped Frederick in the face so hard, that a red mark began to form on the left end of his face. Frederick held that side of the face with his hand and felt the stinging sensation.

"OW! What was that for?"

Manx just humped and adjusted his monocle, before he finally spoke.

"Don't act like you don't know," Manx spoke sternly. "I heard how rudely you acted towards the mistress, the most disgusting, tasteless showing of character I have ever known in my life. Let's make sure you understand perfectly clear: From now on, in this castle, when you are approached by the Mistress, you will bow, and address her as 'your highness'. And if you do anything that hurts our mistress, you will have to answer…to me. Do I make myself clear?"

Frederick gulped, feeling small compared with this tall cat. Judging by the expression and the raised eyebrow, clearly this Manx character was not kidding.

"Yes sir… Perfectly clear."

"COGSWORTH!"

They turned to see Lumiere rushing into the kitchen, a look of frantic panic on his face.

"HE'S GONE! The Monsieur flew ze coop! I swear, I did not leave my po…"

Lumiere quickly saw Frederick standing with the servants, raising his eyebrows at the rather random outburst. Quickly changing his expression, Lumiere rushed forward, grabbed Frederick's hand, and starts to rapidly shake it. Manx simply shook his head with annoyance.

"This is Lumiere," Manx replied dryly.

Cogsworth tried to push the candelabrum away, but was quickly burned off.

"Please, if there is anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable…" Cogsworth spoke, whilst trying to shake off the burn from a rather annoyed Lumiere.

Fred's stomach rumbled louder than before; clearly he already knew what he wanted.

"Well… I AM a little hungry," Frederick shrugs his shoulders.

Finally, Lumiere released his grip on Fredrick, allowing the man to stand up. As he did, the kind Miss Doe took charge of the household.

"You are? Hear that? He's hungry! Stoke the fire, break out the silver, wake the china… Well come on!"

What followed next was something Frederick would never in his life forget; what began as being treated as a prisoner now the servants were wading on him hand-and-foot… Or hooves. Carefully setting him down on a chair, wrapping a napkin round his neck, the animals made certain Frederick was comfortable whilst the others brought in tray upon tray of all sorts of delicious food. From Basil salmon terrine to steaming hot Baguette, Andouillette to Ratatouille, it was a selection of food fit for a king. To Frederick, it felt he was living one of the stories in his old books: A dream come true in a nightmarish setting. Never to see his family again, the thought making him a bit sick on the inside, regardless he would be able to live out the rest of forever, however long that was, in an enchanted castle. Still, as he enjoyed each dish, he still felt curious of one thing.

"Say, Manx is it," Frederick spoke, wiping his lips with his napkin. "Is your Mistress suppose to be royalty or something?"

"Why good sir, she's more royal than you could possibly imagine," Manx replied. "What, did the size and exquisite design of the castle not give you a clue?"

"I wouldn't know… I was locked in a bedroom mostly."

"Humph… Indeed."

* * *

After a long while, the seemingly never-ending parade of hors d'oeuvres quickly filled Frederick satisfyingly. As the servants cleared away the table and returned to their posts, a new burst of energy filled Frederick: Curiosity. Frederick was anxious to learn more about the castle, ready for a little adventure. After all, if he was going to stay in the castle, the least he could do was learn more about his new home. As he thinks, Cogsworth yawns and looks down at his own face.

"Oh, my goodness," Cogsworth said, motioning to his face. "Will you look at the time!"

Frederick turned to Cogsworth and saw that the hour was near midnight.

"Ah yes… It is getting rather late. But then, why would I want to go to bed now? After all, it's only my first night in an enchanted castle!"

Cogsworth blanched and gives a weak laugh, trying in vain to deny it.

"Enchanted? Who said anything about the castle being enchanted?"

Frederick was about to offer a reply, when the clock turned to Lumiere accusingly.

"It was you!"

The two began to quarrel, practically wrestling with each other on the table in front of Frederick. Frederick stopped himself from rolling his eyes at their shenanigans.

"I'm staying in a castle where all the servants are living furniture and talking animals. How was I NOT going to figure that out?"

The two stoped quarreling and turned to face Frederick simultaneously.

"You know," Lumiere spokes up. "He makes a good point!"

"Oh hush!" Cogsworth replied.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to actually explore the castle for a while."

As Lumiere disconcertingly adjusted his wax nose, which was bent in an odd shape in the fight, he perked up at Frederick's words.

"Would you care for a tour?"

"Absolutely not!" Manx retorted, who had just overheard their little conversation. "As the assistant head of the household, I offer my objection to giving this "tour" to some stranger on the premises."

"Actually, I must agree with Manx on this one," Cogsworth admitted, turning to Lumiere. "He might see the…you know what."

Frederick figured that Cogsworth and Manx may object too quickly, they were going to be tough to crack. Still, Frederick decided to butter them up a bit, considering them as a pair of wet blankets and all.

"Perhaps you two could take me. Being the heads of the house and all, that must imply you know "everything" one should know about the castle."

To Frederick's satisfaction, the plan worked. Cogsworth puffed out his chest after hearing Frederick's words.

"Well, actually, ah-"

Yes, we do!" Manx jumped in, with a smile. Cogsworth looked up at Manx rather annoyingly.

* * *

It was hardly even over an hour, Frederick was already bored out of his mind. They were just passing through a line-up of knight-armor statues and he was merely half-listening to Cogsworth and Manx droning on-and-on about the architecture of the castle. Frederick was starting to regret taking this tour, when a strange feeling came over him. Soon, he stops in front of a dark stairwell whilst the two walked on without paying attention to what Frederick was up to. Naturally curious, he began to climb the steps quietly, so his two "guides" wouldn't notice.

Once he reached the top, his earlier excitement began to fade as he entered a dark hallway. On one wall, Frederick stopped to look at his reflection in front of a shattered mirror, every shard of glass reflecting his concern. Turning away from the disturbing feeling it presented him, Frederick continued down the hall, and soon came upon a rather foreboding closed door. If his curiosity had not completely taken control of his senses, Frederick may have turned around and returned to his quarters. But, he didn't as he really wanted to see what the Mistress could possibly be hiding. He grabbed onto the gargoyle shaped handles, and pulled on the door with all his might. The door opened with a ghostly groan as he stepped inside.

For inside the room, Frederick pushed aside some cobwebs as he attempted to take in all of his surroundings. It was so dark inside that he didn't see a table in his way, until he managed to catch it before the table crashed to the floor. All around the room, everything was either destroyed or in shreds. All except the large bed in the right corner near the balcony, something that seemed odd to Frederick. Suddenly, he spotted a glowing red rose, hovering inside a glass cover on a table near the bedside.

Entranced, Frederick approaches the glowing rose, his eyes transfixed as if he were in a trance. Never before had he seen anything as beautiful as the enchanted flower. It's magic drawing him closer and closer and yet he just couldn't find the urge to lift the cover.

"I dare not touch it," He thought. "Lest I risk ruining it's beauty."

Instead, Frederick pulled a small chair that was not broken and sat himself down. For a long period of time, he just sat there staring at the rose and admiring it's beauty. Just then, he felt a gust of wind blow from the balcony taking his gaze off the rose. It was at this point he noticed a pair of flapping velvet curtains in the other curtain. Frederick figured there must be something valuable hidden away, he wondered what would possibly be behind them. Rising up from the chair, he walked towards the curtains. He stood in front of them unsure of what to do next, until he reached out and pulled them open… When he saw something horrifying staring back at him.

Two stone statues, a man and woman with horrified expressions on their faces, positioned as if they were leaning out to someone. With a horrified gasp, Frederick backed away from the statues when he bumped into someone… Or something. He quickly turned around and saw the Beast looming over him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, surprised and angered. "You shouldn't be in here!"

"I… I apologize, I…"

"I warned you never to come in here!"

"Please, I meant no harm…"

"Do you not realize what you've DONE!"

The Beast gave forth a mighty roar, swinging her arms toward Frederick, who nearly bounded out of the way just as they made contact splintering a table. Frederick grabbed the chair and held it out in front of the Beast to keep his distance. The Beast merely swung her arms, knocking down piece after piece of the chair till he only had a single piece of wood left. Desperate, he hurled the piece at her head, seemingly catching her by surprise. He managed to duck under and roll past the Beast as she swung about wildly, only managing to tear a sleeve off his coat. He bounded for the door and pushed it open, only turning back to see the Beast charging toward him like a savage animal. He quickly left the room and slammed the door shut, the Beast colliding on the door and knocking her flat on her back and she roared in response.

The impact of the collision knocked Frederick onto his back as well. With a frightened look on his face, he quickly pulled himself up and ran like his life depended on it. He ran down the steps, past all the servants, and finally out the front door bounding over the bridge and making his way into the woods.

The Beast stood up from that collision, looking around the room visibly stunned. She looked down to her paw, clutched was a torn piece of fabric that came off of Frederick's coat. When she realized what just happened, she let it go and as it floated down to the floor, she put her hands over her face.

"What have I done?" She asked herself.

"Mistress?" Miss Doe shouted, rushing into the room. "All this running and shouting about, what happened?

"Oh, Miss Doe, I blew it," The Beast cried. "I don't know what happened! He was in here… I saw him… I… I… I got mad… And I… Oh god!"

"Then you'd better go get him."

"Why should I?"

"Because if you don't, either the storm will kill him or… The Wolves."

And then, a sudden realization came over the Beast's face. If what Miss Doe said was true, she had to save Frederick. Running out the room, she pulled her hood over head and made her way towards the door. Manx and the other servants rushed towards her as she opened the door.

"Mistress!" Manx called out. "Don't go, you'll freeze to death in this blizzard!"

"I have to help Frederick!" The Beast said stubbornly. Without turning back, she opened the door letting a gust of wind flow into the castle.

"But-"

"But nothing, Manx!" The Beast interrupts, finally turning around. "It's my fault he ran out… I have to bring him back."

With that said, she ran out of the door, closing it shut behind her. In the Blizzard, she ran through, in search for Frederick, all through the night. She cried out for Frederick's name, but the wind blew snow so hard that it clouded her voice. But that didn't matter to the Beast, her only thought was to reach Frederick and bring him back to the castle safe. Despite the snow pressing against her feet, the wind sending chills down her spine, and the frost that began to form on her fur coat, she pressed on, calling his name as loud as she could. She continued to do so… Until The Wolves came out of nowhere.

They burst from behind the trees, growling in front of the Beast as they stood in front of her. They were poised and ready to pounce if she made a sudden move. But the Beast had no time for this. Quickly, she turned the opposite direction and ran as fast as she could. Course no matter how fast she could go, the Beast could hear the snarling of the wolves, as they got close enough to snap behind. So she zigzagged through the trees, hoping to knock the wolves off balance. A low tree lay in her path, one of the wolves leapt forward to lunge it's jaws. With quick-thinking, the Beast slid under the tree, causing the wolf to eat bark. The Beast quickly recovered and resumed her pace through the trees. She knew the wolves would only regroup so she bounded off one side of a tree to another tree, getting some air over the wolves. But one of the wolves, determined to catch her, leapt upward and snapped at her left arm. The Beast let out a yelp and was thrown onto the ground, as the wolf sank it's jaws deeper.

* * *

Meanwhile, Frederick, wrapped tightly in a cloak, had been running through the snow trying to find the village. But the blizzard made it too difficult for him to see the path, something he didn't count on. All of a sudden, he heard a yelp in the far end of the woods and he knew the Beast was there. But it sounded different, instead of out of anger… It sounded as if she was in pain. For a moment, Frederick sought to turn back but then found himself hesitating. It appeared the Beast needed his help and he was going to run out on her. What was he going to do?

* * *

Meanwhile, the Beast struggled as the wolf held her down by her arm. Another wolf came in, clamping it's jaws onto her cloak, holding her down ever so tightly. Trapped and bound by these two wolves, the Beast assumed the worst and thought all was lost. A wolf loomed in front of her, snarling at her, drool running down it's fangs. The Beast closed it's eyes and prepared herself, as the wolf ran to lunge it's jaws around her head.

WHACK! The wolf was thrown aside by a stick. The Beast opened her eyes and looked up to see that it was Frederick, who swung the branch toward the wolf. She was swamped with relief; despite everything, he was still there. Frederick was willing to risk his life to save hers, even after what happened, he wasn't going to let her die. She dashed over to his side and they looked as the wolves surrounded them at every angle.

In unison, the wolves sprang toward the two. The Beast and Frederick attempted to fight them off for as long as they could. The Beast utilized her strength and power to hurl the wolves in several directions whereas Frederick swung his branch toward any wolf she didn't ward off. They switched sides, working together to protect each other as the wolves recovered after each strike no matter how many times they were thrown aside.

Within a few minutes, the wolves retreated from the fight though many were out cold from being hurled into the trees. They stood together, a Beast and a human, taking deep breaths after the long struggle. The Beast, standing beside Frederick, looked down at him with a look in her eyes that he couldn't identify. It almost looked like relief. But then, Frederick looks in shock when the Beast fell in to the ground and lost consciousness. He loomed over her body and almost turned away. Now this was his chance to escape, to finally get away from the nightmare.

"There's nothing I could do for her," He thought, trying to convince himself.

But then, for all he tried to do, it just wouldn't work. The stream of conscious had made him guilty, as Frederick turned back towards the Beast. He leaned down toward the creature, her hair covering her face. Slowly, but cautiously, he lifted her hair over to get a good look at her. He checked for a pulse, relieved that she was still alive but soon noticed the wounds on her body. For the moment he looked at her, he never imagined just how fragile and vulnerable she truly was. Frederick just couldn't leave her.

Crouched by her side, Frederick lifted her body and held her dearly in his arms. As he looked down toward her, he forgot how frightening and intimidating the Beast appeared to act. When he truly got a good look at her, he couldn't help but see how beautiful she was, for a Beast. In utter silence, Frederick walked her back to the castle as the winds slowly died down and the blizzard passed on.

* * *

Inside the castle, all of the servants gathered around by the front entrance anxiously waiting though half the servants assumed the worst. Just then, someone banged on the front door and two of the servants rushed forward to open it. A strong wind blew in, as Frederick came through with the Beast in his arms. The servants watched in both shock and relief, Miss Doe walked forward.

"Oh dear," She said. "What happened?"

"She's hurt," Frederick responded. "Wolves attacked us; she needs help."

"Right away," Manx said. "Quick, bring her over to the couch. Miss Doe, get some hot water, a cloth…"

"We need bandages too!" Cogsworth added.

"Of course." Miss Doe nodded.

While Miss Doe scurried off to perform her task, Manx helped Frederick carry the Beast to the couch and laid her down as gently as possible. The Beast was no heavy creature, Frederick was simply more than grateful Manx could help. By the time they had her settled, Miss Doe returned rolling a cart laden with the necessary medical equipment: Bandages, a cloth, and a small basin of hot water, refreshments included. Before long, the Beast awoke and groaned she felt the stinging pain on her arm. She bent down to lick her arm, when Frederick held her head causing her to look up.

"No…" Frederick spoke, as gentle as possible. "You'll get an infection, just lie down… Okay?"

Though the Beast growled, she nodded reluctantly. Frederick simply nodded his thanks, then returned to the medical cart. He grabs the cloth, dips it into the hot water, and squeezes the cloth to balance out the cloth. He slowly goes over to the Beast and prepares to lay it down.

"Your highness, this is going to sting," Frederick warned. "I'd suggest you be ready."

Slowly, Frederick laid the cloth onto the Beast's wounded arm. The Beast hissed in pain, though it sounded like the whine of a dog as well, as the warm cloth touched the exposed wound. With her other hand, she gripped tightly along the couch and nearly ripped the fabric as she tried to hold still for the procedure to commence. Frederick just simply shook his head, it reminded him of when he took care of a child's bruise after falling off a tree. As he proceeded, he turned his attention till he was face-to-face with the Beast.

"You're really something else, you know that?" Frederick asked. "One minute, you're like this wild animal and nearly kill me in the West Wing…then you're a scared child with the wolves. What is this, like some split personality thing?

"You don't know the half of it," The Beast spoke silently. "I'm sorry…"

"There's no need…"

"No! I'm really, really sorry. I'm sorry for scaring you and for locking away your parents. I know what people think of me, even my own servants look at me with fear. But you must understand: To everyone else, I may be this ferocious monster with enough power to bring down a hundred men if I wanted to. But the fact is…there's no one more terrified of me…than me. Everything I've done, every way I acted, it was all out of fear."

"I guess…we all get scared of the unknown, even if we don't show it. I suppose, we tend to judge others too harshly. I myself was horrible for the way I acted, so I understand more than you know."

"I suppose… Though it was still foolish of you to just run off into the storm."

"Heh… You're one to talk. You could've gotten killed yourself. Why did you go after me?"

The Beast turned away for a moment, at first not sure of what to say. But then she turned back toward Frederick, who saw the concerned expression from her eyes in that one brief moment.

"Because I had to make sure YOU weren't killed," She answered truthfully.

Frederick sat there allowing the answer to sink in. For a few moments, he was speechless, for he didn't expect such words to come from her. It was as if he was talking to an entirely different creature.

"Well… I guess I should thank you for that," Frederick responded, with a smile. "What you did back there… That was very brave of you."

Frederick then reached for a long piece of bandage and proceeded to wrap it gently around her arm.

"Any other wounds I should bandage?"

"You're welcome," The Beast spoke. "No, there aren't any other wounds."

The Beast paused for a moment, but then added:

"And I should say thank you, for helping me back here and for bandaging up my wound. I owe you for this."

"Let's just call it even and leave it at that. But you're very welcome… Your highness."

Miss Doe, Lumiere, Babette, Cogsworth, and Manx watched, smiling at this scene. But none more prouder than the latter, seeing Frederick actually keep his word and perhaps he himself was wrong about this human. Miss Doe turned to Manx.

"This just might work out, Manx," Miss Doe whispered.

Manx nodded in response, a smile formed on his face. As Frederick finished bandaging the arm, the Beast gently lay her other paw on Frederick's hand. He turned to face the Beast, to see what she wants.

"Frederick?"

"Hmm?"

"Call me… Maria."

"Maria…" Frederick smiled. "That's a nice name."

Maria giggled at that remark.

"Frederick isn't such a bad name, either."

Manx turned his attention to Miss Doe after a while.

"I think we should leave these two love birds alone," Manx suggested, before turning to Babette. "No offense."

"None taken."

"Well… Shall we?"

"Of course," Miss Doe said with a smile, as she and the rest of the servants left the room and closed the door slowly behind them.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: This chapter was written by me, Karin Skywalker, SamoaPheonix9 and Wrestlemaniac829. The character of Gutknecht was inspired by the character of the same name from Corpse Bride and Alfred from Batman. Both played by the late Michael Gough.**

The next morning, Frederick stepped out of his room to have a bit of a stroll. Even though he had a rather busy night, his natural curiosity urged him to explore the castle some more. He noticed that during the day, the castle wasn't as foreboding as it was at night. When he looks at it this way, the castle was almost pleasant.

Just then, Frederick came upon a large red door with dusty golden handles. Frederick had never seen this portion of the castle before and he was ever so curious as to what may be inside. He reached out and grabs the handle, opening the door slowly. Frederick peered inside, but the room was so dark that he could barely see anything in front of him. Slowly, he arched his way through the room and felt a rope. He pulled on it, causing the curtains to fly open, allowing the sunlight to spread in. Dust flew up everywhere and Frederick began to cough. To his surprise, Frederick found himself in a large library with hundreds upon hundreds of books. More books than he'd ever see in his life, a single tear fell from his eye.

Just then, he heard someone else coughing in the room and all at once Frederick realized he wasn't alone. He slowly turned just in time to see a tall man with silvery hair, small glasses with circular rims, and garbed in a black tuxedo with white gloves. In addition, he held a wooden tray in one hand. Frederick walked toward him.

"Oh," Frederick spoke. "Hello, sir."

"Why, hello there," The man answered. "How may I help you, sir?"

"It's such a relief to see another human in this castle."

"Sorry, sir, but I'm afraid you're mistaken."

The man knocked on his chest, which made a sound as if someone was knocking on a door.

"I'm merely a wooden statue that holds champagne bottles."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Frederick spoke, frowning at his mistake.

"It's quite all right, sir," The statue smiles, adjusting his collar. "My name is Gutknecht, I'm the butler of this castle."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Gutknecht. I'm Frederick La'Belle, the new resident."

Gutknecht bowed, suddenly noticing the cobwebs around his body. He swipes off the cobwebs with his hand.

"My, these cobwebs certainly are a problem."

Just then, they hear the door swing open and Frederick turned to see Maria entering the room, the latter surprised to see Frederick here at all.

"M-Maria!" Frederick stuttered. "I-I-I'm sorry if I'm not allowed in here. I'll leave if you want."

Clearly, Maria was startled to see Frederick in the library, completely unexpected she was. But all the same, she held her temper back. Considering the events that had transpired the other night, she was all the more determined to behave herself. So she took a deep breath and simply responded with a small smile.

"It's okay, Frederick, you're allowed here," Maria assured. "It's just I did not expect you to even find this place. I hardly ever come in here, myself. I only heard noises and I saw this light and… How did you find the library?"

"I only saw the door and walked in. It was dark, so I opened the curtains. That's how I discovered Gutknecht here."

"Maria?" Gutknecht asked, turning to her and smiling. "Oh, Maria! It's been years!"

Gutknecht walked over to Maria and hugged her, the Beast hugging him back, clearly recognizing the old man.

"Oh, Maria, my how you've grown."

"Hello, Gutknecht," Maria said with a giggle.

The moment Gutknecht pulled out of the hug, stepping away, Maria returned her gaze to Frederick. She laughed a bit when she saw the look of surprise on Frederick's face, clearly not sure of what was going on.

"Gutknecht here is our butler," Maria informed him. "He's… Also… My nanny." That last response made Maria blush.

"Oh!" Frederick spoke, suddenly understanding. "That explains a lot, then."

"You have no idea what it's like being cooped up in this dreary room," Gutkneckt replied, wiping away some dust from his brow and turns to Frederick. "I've spent years in this room with hardly a soul to talk to. I owe you my thanks for finding me, young man."

"You're quite welcome, sir," Frederick replied with a bow.

"Well, this was quite a lovely chat. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be off. No doubt so many years being stuck in a room and the castle must be in desperate need of attendance. Well, cheerio!"

Gutknecht soon left the library, with Frederick and Maria now alone in the same room. At first, there was a big awkward silence between the two, who at first was not sure of what to say. Finally, Frederick cleared his throat.

"So… How may I help you?"

Maria looked around the library for a moment, then got an idea.

"How about you help me organize the books by genre and author's last name?" She suggested.

"Why do you suggest that?" Frederick asked, puzzled.

"This library's been rather neglected for several years, I figured it simply could use some tidying up."

He thinks for a moment, then Frederick smiles at Maria.

"I'd love to. Where shall we start?"

"Fiction of nonfiction?"

"Hmm… Fiction, please."

Maria smiled, Frederick did his best not to gulp. For her smile exposed far too many sharp teeth for his comfort, even though he knew now that she meant him no harm. But it didn't matter if Frederick could hide it. The moment Maria saw the expression on his face, her smile faded. Still, she decided not to comment and only replied,

"Fiction is on the right. Follow me."

All through the morning, Maria and Frederick spent a fairly agreeable period of time trying to make sense of the vast confusion and clutter that was the fiction section of the library. Indeed the library has been in such neglect, there was practically dust all over the books and many of which weren't even in a particular order. But with a little work into it, they managed to have one section completed at a time. They didn't talk much, yet the silence was for the most part companionable rather than awkward. One of the few times Frederick spoke, he asked about the servants.

"You seem to have a great many capable… Ah… People here," Frederick began, though the word "people" did not quite describe them. Maria didn't mind at all.

"They are very capable," Maria agreed. "They've taken good care of me for as long as I could remember," she added after a moment.

"And I'm sure they really care about you, I can tell. But it surprises me that there are so many of them. How do they not trip over each other trying to do the same jobs?"

"To be honest, I'm not really sure," Maria admitted, the thought never occurred to her till now. "I suppose they have this system that works out fairly well, or else things would never get done around here. Even if they do have a problem, they would never complain to me about it. They love their jobs too much to care."

At this point, Frederick dared not to ask his next question. A question which was whether the servants didn't come to Maria with problems because they preferred not to bother her or because of fear. He figured it would insult Maria and that such a topic would be too insensitive to bring up. Instead, his eye comes across one of the books on the next shelf, a book he'd been planning to work on. He reached out to stroke its cover reverently.

"I haven't seen this book for years. I've always wanted to read it again."

Maria plucked the book from the shelf delicately, so as to avoid tearing it with her claws.

"Le Morte d'Arthur," She read aloud from the cover. "What's this?"

"Only a wonderful collection of stories about King Arthur and his knights," Frederick explained, sensing her confusion. "I take it that you've never read this book."

"No, I don't think so," She answered.

She offers the book to Frederick, who instead pushes it back.

"You can read it first, I don't mind. If you like, maybe we can read it together."

Maria looked at the book for a moment, pondering a bit before she allowed a small smile to form.

"I'd like that."

And at that moment, her eyes lit up as inspiration struck.

"In fact, I'd like to give you this whole room, to do with whatever you want."

Hearing those words, Frederick stares at her, as if some strong feeling pushed him into a wonderful dream.

"Really? You'd do that?"

"It's the least I can do. You saved my life, Frederick, and I did say that I "owed" you. I owe you so much more than a room full of books."

"You don't have to give me anything," Frederick replied, tilted his eyebrow.

"But I want to. Anyone can see that a man like you enjoys books and learning, I want you to have something to call your own while you're here in the castle."

As soon as she saw Frederick's eyes light up, she knew deep down that she felt rewarded.

"Thank you so much!" He said, taking her paw in one hand and squeezing it. "Sorting the library can wait; we've got all the time in the world to do that. Do want to read this book with me for awhile?"

"Yes, oh yes, very much," Maria answered.

And so, Maria and Frederick took their seats by some twin armchairs over by the window. Sitting together, they laid out the book by their laps and each took turns reading aloud enjoying their time together with each passing minute.

Little did they realize, Cogsworth, Manx, Lumiere, Miss Doe, Katrina, and Gutknecht had been peering through the doorway keeping watch on the two. They couldn't control themselves, as they were unable to keep the smiles from their faces. Seeing the two together without arguing sent a warm feeling to them from deep within. Noting that everything seemed under control, they slowly closed the door so they could have some privacy.

"Ah, my friends," Lumiere announced. "The day we have long awaited for may soon be at hand."

"Let us hope you're right, Lumiere," Gutknecht answered. "The Mistress truly deserves someone, a someone who can see past her flaws and to love her for who she is."

"By the way, Gutknecht," Miss Doe said, as they started down the hall. "It is wonderful to see you again. We've all missed you."

"And it's good to see all of you again, after all these years. Some may find being locked in a library a dream come true, as I suspect young Frederick might, but I admit the years of looking at the same walls becomes quite…tedious."

Thinking it over, Gutknect shook his head at the thought.

"Never mind! I see the castle is in serious need of tending. We've got a great deal of work to do if we're to help our Mistress break the spell at last."

And so the servants set forth to perform their various tasks for the day, the group splitting up in different directions. As they carried on with their choices, each carried a small spark of hope with them. The hope that one day soon, they may finally feel what it's like to be human again. For in the end, even when they lose a part of themselves, that one vital element was all any of the servants have had left to hold onto… Hope.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: This chapter was written by me, Holbyta, SamoaPheonix9, and Wrestlemaniac829.**

A few hours had passed and by that time Frederick and Maria had just finished reading the book. By now, they were just at the very end of the story and in all that time Maria was moved through the emotion carried out within these pages.

"When Guinevere heard that Arthur was slain," Frederick read. "She went away to a convent, and no one could make her smile again. The end."

"What a beautiful story," Maria said with a smile.

"I knew you would like it!" Frederick replied, returning a smile.

It was then that Frederick took notice of what was going on outside. He looked out toward the window, noticing the land covered in a blanket of snow as the snowflakes fell from the clouds toward the ground.

"Look, it's snowing," He then turned back to Maria. "Want to go outside with me?"

"I'd love to," Maria answered with a smile. "It's been such a long time since I've played in the snow."

"Great! Let's go."

Excited, Frederick grabbed Maria's paw and they walked out of the library together preparing to greet the dawn of a beautiful Winter Wonderland.

* * *

Once the two emerged outside, the ground was covered in a beautiful blanket of white snow and the snow itself was crisp to the touch when they set foot onto the ground. To keep warm, Maria was dressed in her green dress and purple cloak, while Frederick was dressed in his overcoat and tri-cornered hat. It had been so long since Maria stepped outside the castle, to actually enjoy this climate without walking through a blizzard. She twirled all around the snow, as if she felt like a child seeing snow for the first time.

"It's so wonderful out here."

"Yes, it is," Frederick replied. "A fresh blanket of snow is always nice after a snow fall."

It was then that Frederick noticed just how happy Maria seemed, twirling about in a circle from whence she stood. Frederick couldn't help but chuckle at her antics.

"You act as though you've never left the castle in years."

Maria paused from her twirling and turned to face Frederick.

"Oh yes, it's been so long since I've been outside and touched the snow."

Maria then lowered her head and stared at the snow along her feet. Frederick took a look around the area, when he felt a drop of snow on his head. He looked up to see it came from snow that slipped off a branch or two from a tall tree next to him and stepped back. Suddenly, he felt a cold smack against the back of his head, his hat flying off his head and onto the ground. He quickly turned to see that Maria had thrown a snowball at him, softly tossing another snowball in her paw and giggling.

"But I haven't forgotten how to have a snowball fight!"

Frederick smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really?"

"Frederick then bent down, reaching to the ground. He picked up a roll of snow in his hand and rolled it up around his hands.

"Two can play this game!"

He then threw the snowball at Maria, which exploded upon hitting her in the shoulder. Soon enough, the two engaged in a large snowball fight, which seemed to last forever as they hardly noticed the sun slowly setting. In that amount of time, the snowball fight had ended as Frederick and Maria fell flat on their backs, laughing.

While flat on his back, Frederick moves his arms and legs in and out on the ground. Frederick slowly gets up to admire his imprint; he had made a snow angel. Maria looks at the snow angel and smiles, admiring Frederick's handiwork. She then looks at her imprint, but it made her cringe.

"That's not an angel," She said. "That's a monster."

Maria then lowered her head shamefully, a single tear slides down her cheek and onto the snow.

It was then that Frederick noticed the tear and in that short moment felt sorry for Maria. For some time, he had judged this woman as a hideous monster with hardly a soul to carry. And yet, seeing her in this state made Frederick realized that there was still some humanity within her. A creature with feelings, of a deep sense of longing reaching out for something she lost. Frederick just didn't know how he could help with that… But there was something he could do. Approaching the imprint, he studies the figurine carefully and it was then he had an idea. He bent down as Maria turned to watch him, as he drew a halo with one finger above the imprint's head. He stood with a smile, admiring his handiwork.

"An Angel is no Angel without a halo, don't you think?"

Maria looked at the halo above the imprint, as a change in expression slowly reforms her of her sadness. Whatever Frederick had done, as simple as it may seem, it was as if she could now look at it another way as a smile forms on her face. She turned to Frederick, who's attention is still on the imprint. She slowly reaches out with her paw and grips his hand lightly. He turned around till he's face-to-face with Maria, tears of joy flowing down her face. Softly, she spoke:

"Thank you."

"Your welcome," Frederick replied, returning the smile.

* * *

As the day turned to night, growing later with each passing hour, Maria had since returned to the comforts of her room. She had since changed into a pink night gown, just getting ready for bed. A knock on the door drew her attention, as the door slowly opened and Miss Doe peered through.

"M'lady?" She asked. "May I come in?"

"You may enter," Maria replied.

Of course, Maria's mind wasn't so much on Miss Doe passing through. As she was lost in her thoughts, Maria ran a brush through her dark hair and a smile is on her face. It had been such a long day and she could recall every waking hour spent with Frederick: Reading the story together, the snowball fight... It was like whenever she was with him, in a way, Maria almost felt… Human again… Almost. As Miss Doe entered the bedroom, she stopped for a moment and gasped.

"Why Mistress, you're brushing your hair!"

"Why are you so surprised?" Maria asked, cocking an eyebrow at her servant. "Has taking an interest in one's personal upkeep become so very unusual?"

Maria turned away from Miss Doe, winching as she brushed through a nasty tangle. Just one out of the few trouble spots she had gone through attempting to straighten her rather uncontrollable hair.

"Well, no, but…" Miss Doe seemed to recollect herself. "Never mind! Don't pay attention to my ramblings. I'm glad to see you taking an interest again, Mistress, that's all. I believe the castle hairdresser is still around somewhere; if you'd like me to, I could send for her at once."

"Not this time," Maria answered absently. "I think I'd like to do it myself tonight. But sometime soon, certainly, if you'd be so good as to alert her."

With pleasure, Mistress," Miss Doe smiles. "Will there be anything else?"

"No. You and the others can go on to bed." Maria said, wrestling with another tangle.

Growing frustrated, Maria pulled and pulled with all her might. Suddenly, the hairbrush snapped between the bristles and the handle, the bristles stuck in Maria's hair. Losing her patience, Maria let out a frustrated growl and flung the now-empty handle across the room.

"It's no use! All these years of neglect… It's hopeless now."

Miss Doe turned to see Maria, who's head was clasped within her paws. She shook her head and slowly approached Maria, who turned to see her position herself next to her on the bed.

"Nonsense, Mistress. It's not right to give up so easily. It only wants a little patience and care, and soon it will be as beautiful as it ever was."

As Miss Doe came forward, she gently worked the top part of the brush out of the mistress' hair using her teeth and hooves, pulling gently as to not pull out bits of hair off of Maria's head.

"You're not talking about hair anymore, Miss Doe," Maria spoke, with a sigh. "I can tell."

"Try the brush with the teeth spaced further apart, works better for tangles," Miss Doe replies practically. "

Without utter a retort, Maria does so and finds the job much easier. As she works over her hair, her servant ventured to add:

"But you're right. I wasn't really talking about your hair; I was talking about you."

Maria glanced at the mirror for no longer than a second, before turning away with no urge to see her reflection any longer. It took a deep breath to control her tears, which hung around her eyes. Miss Doe took a seat on a nearby stool, smoothing out her apron.

"Forgive me for saying this, Mistress, but you haven't been human for so long that you've forgotten what it was like. And yet you expect to just become the girl you once were overnight. It takes time, and practice, to remember everything that you once took for granted. If only you let us and Frederick help you, it will be much easier. Now, if you'd be so kind, let me summon the hairdresser so that she can see about putting your hair in order. In the future, I'm sure you'll be able to do it yourself without trouble. But getting the tangles out will take an expertise that neither you nor I possess."

"All right, go ahead and send for her," Maria answered.

She glanced in the mirror again and winced. But it wasn't so much of her face or physical appearance that made her do so. Her head was practically a bird's nest of half-smooth, half tangled hair sticking out wildly in all directions. Miss Doe stood from her seat and made way for the door.

"Don't you worry, Mistress. Things will turn out all right in the end."

Miss Doe was half way out the door when Maria calls out in a whisper:

"Wait."

"Yes?" Miss Doe's large ears pricked forward.

"Do you think he likes me?"

"Frederick?"

Maria nods miserably, feeling almost ashamed to ask and even more ashamed knowing if it was so stupid that the answer was so obvious to her. Miss Doe considered and pondered at the idea. To Maria's surprise, Miss Doe turns to her with a soft smile and speaks out her opinion from the bottom of her heart.

"From what I've seen, yes, I think he does. Still, he may not be fully aware of it for he's a man of honor, after all. It may disturb him to realize he has feelings for you when clearly he considers himself engaged to another woman."

"Then what can I do?" Maria snapped. "It's not as if we have time to wait for his betrothed to die of old age. The rose is wilting faster every day!"

"I never forgot," Miss Doe spoke, her tone slightly colder than usual.

The very retort coming from Miss Doe made Maria wince. It was then she remembered that the rose was as much of a time bomb to her servants as it was to herself. And the realization suddenly sent a wave of shame upon her, reflecting how selfish she had just acted towards the servants who truly cared for her.

"I'm sorry," She mumbled unhappily. "I shouldn't have said that."

"It's all right, Mistress," Miss Doe replied softly. "I understand."

Neither Maria or Miss Doe said anything after that, a long silence filled the room during these few moments. No doubt much was going on in their heads, so many thoughts to consider and so many ideas discarded. Until at last, a clear image ran into Miss Doe's head and she declared her thought to the Mistress.

"I think I may have something that might work. With your permission, I wish to discuss this with Cogsworth, Lumiere, Manx, and the other heads of staff and see if they think it can be done. Give or take a few days, we'll let you know. Granted it will require some hard work on all of our parts, but I do believe it's manageable enough that it just might work."

"What's the idea?"

Miss Doe, hearing the anxious tone in Maria's voice, simply smiled and said:

"We'll tell you when we've got a few more of the details ironed out. I don't wish to get everyone's hopes up if the others believe this idea won't work. In the meantime, I suggest you'd keep down what you've been doing with Frederick, just to see what comes of it. I'll be sure to send the castle hairdresser up directly."

Miss Doe soon went out and shut the door behind her.

"You know I'm not fond of suspense!" Maria shouted after her, but reply there came not.

She growled softly to herself, still she held her temper. If the servants preferred to be mysterious and anonymous, she might as well allow them to be as such. In the meantime, she could simply enjoy her days with Frederick, a prospect she didn't mind at all. If what Miss Doe said was true and it would take a few days to plan, the least she could do was make the best of her time. So she settled back on her chair, awaiting for the hairdresser to arrive.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: This chapter was written by me, Holbyta, SamoaPheonix9, and Wrestlemaniac829.**

"You can't be serious, Miss Doe!" Cogsworth exclaimed, pacing back-and-forth. "Are you even aware of the amount of work you're talking about in order to get things ready for a ball, even a two-person ball, in the limited time that we have?"

Miss Doe figured this would be the response she'd received. It wasn't long ago when all the servants had gathered in the kitchen, and she had just finished explaining the outline of her plan not only to Cogsworth, but also to Manx, Lumiere, Babette, Gutnecht, and even the stove-chef. Clearly, they all shared some expression of concern for putting such a complicated ball all together. But still, Miss Doe would not let this slip so easily.

"I'm well aware of the work involved, believe me," Miss Doe replied. "And, Cogsworth, I have complete faith in your ability to get things suitably organized."

"I… Ah, well… When you put it that way…" Cogsworth stuttered, momentarily thrown off his own protest.

"I think it is a wonder plan, mes amis," Lumiere said with a wink at Miss Doe. "Inspired."

"And it may be our last chance to bring them together before the rose wilts," Manx added. "I say we give it a try and hope for the best."

"I agree," The stove put in. "There can be no harm in trying; this I know for sure."

"Only one question remains: Will The Mistress and young Frederick agree?" Gutnecht quietly asked. "After all, they are the two most concerned. We can't just go around arranging their lives for them as we please."

"If we could, they would have fallen in love long ago and put an end to all this," Babette muttered.

"It is almost over, ma cherie," Lumiere reassured, with a smile. "Now is not the time to be losing faith."

"Indeed not," Miss Doe agreed. "And you raise an excellent point, Gutnecht. I have spoken to the Mistress, though not in direct terms, and I believe she would be very receptive to the idea. But as for Frederick... I'm not sure. I don't know him well enough to predict how he might feel."

"Properly, it ought to be the Mistress who should ask him about it," Cogsworth announced stiffly, the others turn to look at him. "After all, she is technically the hostess."

"All right," Miss Doe said with a shrug. "I'll give her some coaching on how to bring up the subject delicately. She should do fine; I have every faith in her."

"Poor child," Gutnecht commented. "All this pressure on her, she never enjoyed being in the spotlight. Yet, we've all been this shamelessly watching their every move for signs of hope."

"No one's watching them now," Manx pointed out. "We're all in here and they both seem to be handling our constant scrutiny quite swimmingly, all things considered. Miss Doe, please speak to the Mistress about this plan as soon as possible."

"Yes," Cogsworth spoke excitedly. "There's so much to do! I must consult with her on every detail: The menu, the decorations, the… "

As Cogsworth went on and on, writing on a small pad of paper that he always kept with him, to everyone else it sounded as if Cogsworth was merely muttering his excitement to himself.

"Try not to get too carried away, Cogsworth," Lumiere commented, as they all headed for the kitchen doors. "Remember: There are only two of them!"

"And do you best not to overwhelm either of them," Miss Doe added. "I know the Mistress is far from used to things like this after all these years, and I doubt Frederick is, either. They'll need some time to get used to all of this."

"I won't, I won't," Cogsworth muttered distractedly, still standing in the midst of the kitchen scribbling in his writing pad.

"Keep an eye on him, won't you Lumiere?" Miss Doe asked, as she headed for the kitchen doors far from Cogsworth's mumbling. "make sure he doesn't get out of hand."

"You can count on me for that," Lumiere smiled. "Now, Cogsworth…"

Lumiere and Babette moved back towards Cogsworth. Miss Doe could hear him expressing his concern, just as the doors slowly closed behind her. She simply smiled to herself and strolled upstairs to have a word with Maria.

* * *

Miss Doe approached Maria's bedroom door, the patter of her hooves echoed along the stone floors as she maked her way close to the door. She soon arrived and knocked on Maria's door with one hoof.

"Mistress, may I come in?"

"Yes you may," Maria answered from the other side.

Miss Doe pushed the door open, walking in to see Maria sitting on the edge of the bed, still dressed in her nightgown. By now, Maria had lifted her feet up on the bed and held her knees deep in her thoughts. She turned to see Miss Doe approach and sit herself on the bed next to Maria.

"Mistress, I think the staff and I have finally figured out an idea to bring you and Frederick together."

"That was quick," Maria spoke, with a hint of surprise in her tone. "It's only been forty minutes. All right, what's the idea?"

"We were thinking that you could put on a ball for the castle, and invite Frederick."

"A ball?" Maria asked, her eyes widened. "But… But… I c-c-can't have a ball. I get so nervous! And you expect me to host? What were you thinking?"

"We were thinking that you and Frederick would have a better chance of getting to know to know each other more, that's all."

"But I get so scared at dances, Miss Doe, you know that!" Maria argued, putting her face in her paws and groaned. "I couldn't even cross the ballroom without holding daddy's hand."

"Mommy?" A voice called out.

Miss Doe and Maria quickly turned to the door, to see little Katrina standing there with a curious expression on her face. Katrina slowly entered the room to join up with her mother.

"I heard something about dancing, is there going to be a dance?"

"Well sweetie," Miss Doe said. "It's up to the Mistress if she wants there to be a ball or not. She IS the host."

Katrina turned to Maria, who looked unsure of what to say to the little child. She slowly walked toward Maria, tugging on her night gown with her teeth, staring into her eyes with longing eyes.

"Oh please, princess Maria. Can we have a ball? I really love dancing. I haven't danced in a long time. Pleeeeeeeease?"

Katrina looked straight into Maria's, her eyes as wide as they can get. If there was one thing that seemed to be Maria's weakness is saying no to Katrina. Especially considering the inability to resist Katrina's innocent expression. Maria simply sighed and knew that she was beaten, by a tiny Doe too.

"All right. We'll have a ball."

"Yay!" Katrina shouted, jumping up-and-down with glee.

Maria simply shook her head with a smile on her face, seeing Katrina so happy. Leaving Katrina to her excitement, Maria turned to face Miss Doe.

"So where do we even start? Do I even have anything to wear? And what…" Maria paused, looking down at her claws. "What if Frederick doesn't want to come?"

Miss Doe gave a tender look towards Maria, grabbing her paw with her tiny hooves.

"You've been so nice to him, I don't see why he won't want to," She replied with a smile. "Besides, we need a couple of days so we can prepare for the ball.

Still, Maria felt unsure about the ball or if it would even work. Still, she gave Miss Doe's hoof a squeeze and returned a smile towards her kind friend.

"Maybe you're right," She said.

"Good night, Mistress," Miss Doe spoke, smiling and took Katrina's hand as she got up. "Come along Katrina."

"Goodnight, Princess Maria!" Katrina called out, waving back to Maria.

Soon, Miss Doe and her child made their way out of the room leaving Maria to ponder what she had gotten herself into. She curled up into her bed, knowing that sleep would not come so easily. A part of her wanted to leap from the covers, find Miss Doe, and cancel the whole thing while she the night was still young. But, even so, she knew she would only be disappointing everyone in the castle. But none more disappointed than little Katrina if Maria tried to refuse. The princess just couldn't find it in her heart to reject a dance to one so young.

_"Ugh, just like the girl to use her cuteness as a weapon,"_ Maria thought. _"Wonder if I ever did that… Besides, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe me and Frederick will get closer, who knows?"_


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: This chapter was written by me, SamoaPheonix9 and Wrestlemaniac829.**

Morning shined along the castle, already Frederick was up-and-about greeting the dawn of a new day. With Gutknecht at the lead, Frederick had since been exploring the castle for quite some time. There was so much more of the castle for Frederick to see and yet so little time to do so. For what it was worth, it just intrigued the young man more and more.

"I've only been here a few days, yet I still haven't seen all of the castle yet," Frederick replied.

"This castle is very big, sir," Gutknecht said. "I'm surprised that you haven't gotten lost yet."

"Me too," Frederick agreed, with a chuckle.

Just then, it was at this point when they walked past two large doors that were just under two flights of the stairs, of which led up into his and Maria's hallways. Frederick had briefly seen the doors during his time at the castle, but not long enough to take the time to notice until this very day. Now that he had, Frederick was curious.

"Gutknecht, what's in there?"

Gutknecht turned around to face the doors Frederick had pointed at. He was more than happy to explain.

"Oh, that would be the ballroom. Would you like to take a look inside?"

"Yes, please."

"I thought you might," Gutknecht spoke with a smile.

Gutknecht reached out and opened the doors, as they entered, a sense of amazement swept over Frederick as he finally got to see the ballroom. The room itself was painted entirely out of gold, with a hint of beige and brown marble along the floor. As he turned to the ceilings, he notices how it was painted with clouds and cherubs. Hanging downward from the ceiling was a gigantic golden chandelier with dozens of unlit candles sticking out of it. Frederick had never seen a ballroom quite like this before.

"This room is ama-"

Suddenly, Frederick paused in mid-sentence when he noticed another figure standing in the midst of the room. It was Maria herself, except she was neither wearing her purple cloak nor her small green dress. Instead, she now appeared to be wearing a light blue dress shirt with long sleeves complete with a long dark blue skirt.

"Maria?"

Upon hearing her name, Maria turned around to see both Frederick and Gutknecht standing by the doorway.

"Oh," She spoke, surprisingly. "Hello Frederick, Gutknecht."

"My, you look… Um… Nice," Frederick replied, nervously. "Is that a new dress?"

Maria looked down at her dress, before her turning her gaze back to Frederick.

"Oh this? Why… Yes… It is. How do I look?"

"You… Look… Nice," Frederick answered with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Thank you," Maria said smiling.

"I think I'll leave you to alone," Gutknecht spoke with a chuckle. "Shout if you need me."

It was not long before Gutknecht left the room, closing the massive doors behind. Pretty soon, Frederick and Maria were left alone and for a moment an awkward silence filled the room. This occurs for a moment or two, until Frederick broke the silence clearing his throat and approached Maria.

"You have a very nice ballroom," Frederick said. "I'd love to see people dancing in here, if it were possible."

"Frederick," Maria said, nervously. "I would like to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"Well, I AM going to have a ball in here… Tomorrow night, actually. And, I was wondering… If… If you could be my chaperon?"

"I'd be happy to," Frederick replied with a smile. "You've been so kind to me, I just can't say no."

Maria gasped and suddenly everything that she was told proved right, Miss Doe was absolutely right all along.

"Oh, thank you," Maria said with a smile.

Unbeknownst to either of them, if either had actually noticed at all, Gutknecht, who had one door cracked just slightly open, had kept a close watch on their progress. And judging by their initial reaction to the offer, everything was going just fine. Gutknecht smiled feeling proud for both of them, but at the most he was very proud of Maria and how she had matured after all these years.

"That's my girl," He quietly spoke, before closing the door.

* * *

As the hour of night drew near, Maria went to bed full of anticipation. For the first time in her life, she did not think about the rose and neither did she think of that dreadful curse. For once, she could settle down to seep. Her last coherent image of the day was one of Frederick's smiling face. She smiled back as she drifted off into her dreams.

In this one particular dream, Maria was dancing in the ballroom with Frederick hand-in-hand. He was garbed in a blue coat lined with gold, over a crisp white shirt, and black leggings, an ensemble that suited his coloring to perfection. When their eyes made contact, he smiled at her, and she smiled shyly back. She felt light as a feather and free when he held her in his arms, more lighter than she could remember feeling in... Forever. She turned her gaze downwards, shocked to see that her own arms were no longer covered in hair, but graceful and pale, ending in delicate hands instead of clawed paws. As a matter of fact, she was human all over. For some reason, this did not strike her sleeping brain as odd. For she was dressed in a wonderful ball gown, she could feel her hair pied high on her head.

Soon Maria turned her gaze around the room, the ballroom full of people, all of them dressed in their finest. It was just as Maria remembered: People dancing, talking, and laughing, the ballroom so full of life again. Nearby, her parents also danced, smiling at each other in a way that only married couples can when they're safely in each others' arms.

She turned back to Frederick, who was genuinely beaming at her. It was such in a way like when they first met as children, with none of the slight reservation that was always in his eyes when he looked at her now. It was a look that suited his face, as well as an adult as it had as a boy. In this brief period of time, Maria felt her heart beat rapidly in a way that she knew had nothing to do with the speed of the waltz. It was something so beautiful and lively, it was a dream Maria did not want to leave.

And then, the most magical moment of all had taken place. Frederick leaned in, as they executed a turn, close enough to whisper:

"You're beautiful, Maria."

"Thank you," She whispered back, trying not to blush. "You look very nice, too."

Frederick responded with a laugh, as they continued to dance on this most enchanted of evenings.

Suddenly, the ballroom doors blasted open, exploding off it's hinges with great ferocity. Maria and Frederick clung to one another, struggling to stay on their feet as a strong gust of wind rushed about them. Shrieks echoed all around the room, screams amplified from the other guests, and a moment after an eerie silence descended upon the whole room. For approaching through the collapsed door, in a swirl of smoke, there stood the Enchantress. She eyed the frightened Maria, pointing a finger towards her and uttering three simple words.

"You. The thief."

"Me?" Maria gasped in shock, releasing Frederick and stepping away involuntarily. "I'm no thief; I've stolen nothing."

"You have stolen a rose from my garden," The Enchantress accused. "See, there it is upon your hand."

Maria looks down, and indeed, there was a gorgeous red room clenched in her grasp, the very same rose that she had once picked from that mysterious grove deep within the woods. She dropped it to the floor, pricking her finger on one of the thorns as it left her hand. She stared down at her hand, though she could see the blood in her dream, she felt no pain, only shock and a blank kind of horror that sent a chill down her spine.

"For this infraction, you and all who live in this household shall be punished," The Enchantress continued. "You can be saved only if you find someone to love, and earn his love in return."

Soon she made a gesture with the wand she carried, with a flick of her wrist, the worst was soon to come. Maria could only watch in hopeless terror as her hands and arms grew hair all around and claws extend through her fingers. She screamed, but now it was an animal's roar. When she turned to her parents for protection, now they were nothing more but stone statues. She turned back to The Enchantress, but she didn't express any other emotion than the cold, uneasy stare down Maria. She soon backed away from the doorway, a wall of flames burst behind, as if the fiery depths of hell opened on a silent command. And walking through the wall, the flames blanketing all around her, The Enchantress vanished before her very eyes.

All around the room, screams again rose from all the guests. In their panic, they ran from the ballroom as fast as they could manage, colliding against each other and trampling over one another trying to get to the door. Soon, within a matter of seconds, there was no one left except for Maria, Frederick, and the statues of her parents from whence they stood. Maria turned to Frederick, her pleading eyes begging for his help.

"Frederick…" Maria gasped, stretching out her clawed paws to him.

But to Maria's horror, Frederick backed away. He held his hands out front, as if warning her not to come any closer. It was just as Maria had feared, as she saw the same horror in his eyes that had been there when he first beheld her as a Beast… A freak of nature.

"I'm sorry, Maria," He whispered. "But I can't love you, not like that. You're not human anymore… I'm sorry."

Frederick then turned and fled after the other retreating guests, Maria reaching out for him and tears falling down her face like tiny waterfalls crying out for Frederick. Desperate, she ran towards him as the world of her dream started to slowly fade away in a flurry of dust. She ran to Frederick as quick as she could, but she felt as if she wasn't getting anywhere as if something was pulling her back and preventing her from holding him in her clutches.

"Frederick, wait!" Maria shouted, chasing after him. "I'm still the same person inside! Please don't go! I need you! Frederick!"

But just like the world around her, Maria could only watch helplessly as Frederick slowly faded before he ended up just like everything else in her dream: A faded memory, slowly vanishing before her very eyes.

* * *

Maria violently stood up from her bed, gasping rapidly and trying to catch her breath. Her eyes burned red with unshed tears. She lurched out of the bed and ran onto her balcony, stifling her sobs as the wind carried her cries away from the castle… For no one else to hear except Maria.

As the cool night air brushed across her fur, helping to pull her mind slowly from the dream, her panic slowly subsided, and with it so were her tears. Doing so would allow her to think rationally again before the dream took it away.

In reality, though The Enchantress indeed cast that curse, it hadn't been anything as Maria had dreamt at all. For Maria was only a child at that time, she would meet The Enchantress upon her arrival in the midst of a private dinner with her parents, instead in front of hundreds of people. In that time, Frederick had not been there and thus had no idea about the curse. But within its essentials, the dream had shown her everything that frightened her the most: The fear of Frederick never coming to love her as a human just because she wasn't in shape.

Maria was practically from that recurring dream, it had always troubled her to return to sleep after that. Even on this very evening, Maria would always be wide awake in terror whenever the dream hovered nearby, as if waiting to pounce where she was most vulnerable. So Maria would do what she always did after that dream: She'd leave for a short walk in the gardens, for it had always soothed her in this time of stress. Quietly, so as not to wake any of the servants, she padded softly down the steps and made her way towards the front door.

As she crossed the grand entrance hall, a spark of light just happened to catch her eye. Maria turns toward it, discovering that though the doors to the parlor were closed shut, a reddish glow spilt from under the crack between the doors and floor. Curiosity getting the best of her, she stepped forth, slowing pushing the door as quietly as she could, and peered into the room.

To Maria's surprise, Frederick sat on one of the couches by a dying fire. He was dressed in his night attire, his head buried in his hands as if overcoming some dreadful thought. The creaking of the door caused him to look up, startled by the disturbance. He turns to the door to see Maria, who let out a gasp when he spotted her.

"Oh, Maria, it's you," He said. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry," She answered quickly, backing away. "I'll leave if I'm bothering you."

"No, that's all right," Frederick replied. "I just didn't think anyone else was awake. You're welcome to stay if you want to."

Maria obliged, slowly making her way into the room and sat down next to him. For a moment, they said nothing as silence filled the room once more. But then, Frederick did choose to add something:

"I hope I didn't wake you up."

"No, I was…" Maria winced slightly as images from the dream assailed her again. "... Already awake."

Frederick could tell that something was bothering her, studying her face ever so carefully. He didn't have to be a teacher to know when someone was in trouble, so naturally he did his best to understand.

"Bad dream?"

"Yes."

"Me too."

For a few seconds more, they were silent and didn't know what else to say. Before long, Frederick continued the conversation though he was almost hesitant to ask.

"Would it help to… To talk about it?"

The very thought of it made Maria wince, he knew the answer without Maria having to say anything. Still, she answered anyway,

"No, I don't think so."

The truth was: Maria did not wish to share the dream, considering the nightmare itself was all about Frederick. She feared that if she turned to look at him, Frederick would keep thinking about it. And right now, all Maria wanted to do was to forget. To her relief, Frederick did not push the subject any further.

"Good," Frederick said with a small smile, as Maria looked up to him seemingly startled. "I was hoping you'd say that."

"Why?" She asked, puzzled.

"Because then I would have felt bad, since I really don't to tell you mine, either. I only asked because I was taught it was polite."

"Oh."

"My mother was always big on getting me to tell her about my dreams," He admitted. "I never wanted to rehash the bad ones; it didn't seem to help me the way she said it would."

"My father was like that," Maria remembered. "My mother was more understanding. She would just hold me until I was ready to go back to bed."

For a long time after that, neither Frederick or Maria said another word. And yet, just knowing the other was nearby, felt more comforting than they've felt in the past few hours. For Maria could feel this pleasant warmth of the room, so warm that it made her feel drowsy. Even after what had happened earlier, the fear of her dream faded to a dim memory. She closed her eyes to savor the sudden feeling of peace and tranquility. A moment after, she felt a nudge against her shoulder, a gentle nudge, followed by a familiar voice.

"Maria."

"What?" Maria asked, sitting straight and turned to see Frederick.

"We should probably be getting back to bed," He suggested, followed by a yawn. "We've been here almost two hours."

"Two hours?"

As Frederick stood up, Maria looked around the room utterly confused. She had noticed that the fire had almost completely died, for only a faint orange glow from the ashes indicated that there would be something for the servants to stoke up in the morning. Without a flame, the whole room was dim and thus making it hard to make out even the chairs at the far end of the room. Maria's brain felt so sluggish, as she tried to wake up from the dark comfort of a moment before.

"Yes, two hours," Frederick informed, stretching his hand out to help her up. "I fell asleep too. But we really should be getting to bed, it will be more comfortable."

Maria took his hand without thinking, allowing Frederick to pull her up. Slowly, he walked side-by-side with her up to where the stairs divided and it was then they parted ways to go back to their own rooms. But then, something stopped the two briefly and before either of them knew it, they had simultaneously turned around to look at each other.

"Well, good night," Frederick said at last. "I hope your dreams are much more pleasant this time."

"Thank you," She answered. "I hope yours are too."

Frederick smiled as he slowly vanished into the darkness. Maria stood looking after him for a few moments; satisfied, she then turned and returned to the comforts of her own room. It was only as she was pulling the covers up that a memory flowed back to her mind: She was downstairs in that room, she had fallen asleep with her head along Frederick's shoulder. And yet, he hadn't seemed to object at all. All at once, a warm feeling filled her inside, right down to the very tips of her toes. A smile formed on her a face, a pleasurable smile, and immediately Maria fell into a dreamless sleep. Possibly the best sleep she had ever had in such a long time.


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: This chapter was written by me and Wrestlemaniac829.**

Sometime later, back at the village, a single flame lit a round table of the empty tavern, where Gaston sat by as if waiting for someone. Suddenly, the door to the tavern creaked open, a light shined by the table, and Gaston turned with a smile as the visitor approached. A thinly old man, seemingly frail and yet had a rather intimidating presence especially with the hideous gleam in his eyes. It was the man known by many as Monsieur D'Arque, owner of the infamous insane asylum "The Maison De'Loon'. He slowly approached Gaston, his steps creaking along the wooded floor. Soon as he neared his seat, he sat himself down and the two stare eye-to-eye.

"Monsieur D'Arque," Gaston spoke. "I'm very pleased you could come."

"I don't usually leave the asylum in the middle of the night," D'Arque replied, twiddling his fingers. "But you said you'd make it worth my while."

Gaston nodded his head, he knew all too well that D'Arque would not simply do what he'd ask without a price. D'Arque watched as Gaston pulled out a sack from under the table and tossed the bag in front of him. With his long, lengthy fingers, he picked up a piece of gold among the many inside. Scraping it along his chin, he turned back to Gaston.

"I'm listening."

"It's like this," Gaston explained. "My sister, Gabriella, is engaged to the school teacher, Frederick. He disappeared sometime ago… But I believe he's been hiding out on us, not wanting to go through with the wedding. I'm thinking he needs a little…persuasion."

"How do you mean?"

"His parents were at my father's house a few nights ago, raving about a beast in a castle holding him prisoner. But we don't buy it, not by a long shot. It has come to my attention that the parents know something that we don't and frankly, I find it the whole thing an act to keep their son away from the wedding."

"The La'Belle's are harmless."

"That's not the point!" Gaston shouted, slamming his fist. "The point is Freddy would do 'anything' to keep his parents from being locked up. And I mean any…thing."

After hearing Gaston's explanation, D'Arque sits in silence for a moment contemplating the proposal. On one hand, he would be committing an obvious innocent couple as opposed to the many scum of the earth he kept in cages. But, on the other hand, business was going rather slow back at the asylum. And it's not like they'd be in there for long, just until their son decides to go through with the marriage. He thought it over carefully.

D'Aque sat silent for a moment before he finally said, "So you want me to throw his parents in the asylum, unless he changes his mind and marries Gabriella?" D'Arque asked.

Gaston responded with a nod.

"Oh, that is despicable. I love it!"

* * *

Back at the Le'Roux mansion, Gabriella sat silently on her bed. So many thoughts raced in that young woman's head, most of which about Frederick. His last words before he disappeared were that he made a promise he would come back with his parents. His parents did return, from what she heard, but Frederick was not with them and she was concerned of the possibility that Frederick would actually run out on her. But it wasn't like him to break a promise… So what else could've happened? Where was Frederick?

The door opened and Gabriella turned around as a figure approached her. It was her father, Mr. Le'Roux, coming into the room looking concerned for his daughter.

"Father?" She asked.

"Is something wrong, Gabriella?" Mr. Le'Roux asked.

"I'm so worried about Frederick." Gabriella answered, staring out the window. "What if he's hurt? What if he's out there and he needs our help?"

Mr. Le'Roux took a deep breath, as if he knew that Gabriella would ask him that question. He emerged closer into the room, sitting himself on the bed next to his daughter. He gently laid a hand on her shoulder and did his best to assure Gabriellla that all would be well.

"Don't worry, daughter. We will find Frederick, I promise. Why, Gaston has gone out into town looking for people to help out. As soon as we find him, the wedding will commence as scheduled."

Slowly, Gabriella turned to her father, a single tear slowly fell down her face.

"Father, I can't imagine why Frederick would be gone this long. He wouldn't just tell me a promise and not go through with it… So something must've happened to him, I know it."

"Shh. There, there, Gabriella," Mr. Le'Roux calmed her, laying her head on his shoulders. "Everything's going to be all right, you'll see."

"Frederick is a good man, a kind and caring person. I can't imagine who would try to hurt him, much less imprison him. If anything happens to him, I'll-"

Suddenly, Gabriella was interrupted by a knock at the door. The action caught Mr. Le'Roux's attention, stepping up from the bed to go to the door.

"Sorry Gabriella, I have to go. We'll discuss this later."

Without another word, Mr. Le'Roux exited the room and left Gabriella to sit by her bed and stare out the window watching the winter snow. Meanwhile, Mr. Le'Roux marched down the stairs approaching the front door. He answered the door, opening it wide, to see Gaston, standing at his door step, with three dirty-looking men standing close behind him. Mr. Le'Roux had no idea what to make of this.

"Gaston, who are these men?"

"These are the hunters you asked for, father," Gaston replied. "They've come all this way to aid in our search for Frederick. Allow me to introduce them to you."

He then went over to each of the men one at a time. He first pointed to a tall man wearing a tri-cornered hat, a black moustache, and wore a brown scruffy coat. In his left hand, he firmly held a blunderbuss, which he polished with a filthy cloth gripped in his right hand.

"This is Hans Gerehrkugel, from Germany."

"Gutenabend, Monsieur Le'Roux," the German hunter spoke.

Secondly, Gaston pointed to the man next to Hans. This one wearing a green cloak and a large black hat atop his head. He held a very large knife in his right hand, which he used as a toothpick picking at something stuck between his teeth all the while giving Mr. Le'Roux a rather dirty look.

"That is Angus McCloud, from Scotland."

Clearing his throat, Gaston then approached the final man of the trio, the largest of all of them. This physically opposing figure had a long black beard, as black as his own patch of hair, garbed in a large red coat and matching tri-cornered hat. In his right hand, he twirled a sickle round and round with ease barely even flinching his fingers.

"And this is Wolfe Styortsky, from Russia. Three of the best, if not the greatest, hunters in all of Europe. They agree to find our Freddy, dead-or-alive."

Mr. Le'Roux gulped at the sight of the vicious looking hunters. He realized that he just asked Gaston to find some men to help them with their search. But never did he think his own son would turn to men like this.

"Son, are you sure this is all necessary?" He asked. "I mean it's just a groom we're looking for, not a wild animal."

"Believe me father, these are desperate times." Gaston replied with a chuckle. "And desperate times call for desperate measures. If you want a wedding, you must have a groom, whether he wants to or not. Besides, Gabriella's happiness matters the most, doesn't it?"

Mr. Le'Roux thought this over for a moment. He knew for certain that this was going a bit along the deep-end than what he had in mind, but his son did make a point. All he had ever wanted in his whole life was for his only daughter to be happy. She deserved to have a loving husband, he knew the moment he met Frederick that he fit the image perfectly. And yet, here these men were attempting to the young man like an animal rather than seeing the humanity of the situation. Still, Mr. Le'Roux knew there were no other options and time was running out. With a sigh, he gave in.

"Yes, I do."

Gaston smiled, with an eerie sort of smile, as if his own father had fallen into the trap. Whatever Gaston was planning, it was all coming together so far.

"Excellent."


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: This chapter was written by me, Karin Skywalker and Wrestlemaniac829.**

Morning dawned along the castle, the sun's brightness shined along Maria's face and stirring her awake. The sun's rays caught a twinkle in her eye, as she arose with a smile on her face. For she knew that this very night was the night of the ball, and she was excited that Frederick would be her chaperone. The thought of the two of them together for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity filled her with such joy she hadn't felt in so long. There she was, out and about from her room, walking down the hallway and twirling around while humming a merry tune to no one but herself.

Down the hallway, Manx had since been dusting the portraits since early in the morn. In the midst of his work, he soon spotted Maria coming his way.

"Good morning, Mistress," Manx said. "My, you look… Um… You're looking cheery this morning."

Maria stopped, as if the voice startled her out of her thoughts. She turned to Manx and smiled broadly.

"Of course I'm in a good mood, Manx," Maria replied good-heartedly. "Tonight is the ball, remember?"

"B-But you hate balls, don't you?" Manx asked, surprised.

"Well, this is different, Manx," Maria confessed, smiling. "Frederick will be my chaperone tonight and… Oh, when is breakfast? I'm starved!"

"Oh, um… Breakfast will be served in a few minutes." Manx informed, adjusting his monocle. "I must admit, you've never been this happy in years. Are you sure it's just the ball you're so joyous about?"

Maria paused for a moment, studying Manx's expression and she knew how curious he could be, in such a way that he wouldn't let it slide until he got the whole story. Still, she smiled again, even more broadly than before.

"I don't know what you could possibly be suggesting by that, Manx," Maria said. "But I assure you that it's just the ball that makes me happy today."

With that said, Maria resumed her merrily pace and dances down the hallway en route to the Dining Hall. Manx watched her walk on and chuckled seeing Maria behave this way.

"That's my Mistress for you; always with her head in the clouds."

"Manx!" A voice called.

Manx turned around to see that it was Miss Doe and her daughter walking down the hall towards him.

"Oh, morning, Miss Doe, Katrina."

"Did you see how happy the Mistress is?"

"Indeed I did," Manx replied, with a smile. "If you ask me, I'd know that look anywhere. She's in love."

"You may be right, Manx." Miss Doe agreed, with a smile.

"Come, breakfast is about ready," Manx said, as Katrina looked to say something.

Miss Doe nodded in response, as the three servants proceeded down the dining room.

* * *

It was later in the afternoon, by then Maria was taking a bath in her own private quarters. Her silhouette could be shown through the beige curtains, the hum of a beautiful melody echoed along the halls. It had been such a long day for Maria, preparation for the ball included, and this was the one time she could have to herself. Just then, Miss Doe came in pushing a vat of water on a tray.

"Tonight is the night, M'lady," Miss Doe said, smiling.

Miss Doe proceeded to lift the vat and dump all the water onto Maria. The freezing shock from the cold water made Maria give out a loud yelp, as the water flowed onto her body.

"Don't worry, we'll be done before you can say 'this water is freezing cold'," Miss Doe said, as she assisted Maria with washing her body.

"I hope so, because this water is indeed frigid!" Maria replied.

Miss Doe merely chuckled in response, as she poured another vat of water onto Maria to wash the soap off. She then moved down to the towel rack, grabbing the first towel she laid her eyes on, and handed it over to Maria. By the time she stepped out, Maria completely wrapped the towel around her body, all dried up after a nice bath. Just then, as she sat down in front of her vanity, there was a knock at the door, causing Maria to turn in that direction.

"Who is it?"

"It's Lumiere and Katrina," Lumiere called from behind the door. "May we come in?"

"Yes, I'm decent."

The door opened, as Lumiere and Katrina came into her quarters.

"You look si magnifique, Mistress."

"I'm not even fully dressed yet, Lumiere," Maria pointed out, blushing slightly. "But thank you for the compliment."

"I know, Mistress," Lumiere said. "It's just been a while since I've seen you properly clean."

"Can I pick out a bow for you, Princess Maria?" Katrina asked innocently.

"Of course you can, Katrina," Maria answered, smiling. "So long as it's a nice one. Go pick one out of my closet there while your mother does my hair."

"Yay!" Katrina exclaimed happily.

As she strolled over to the closest, rummaging through for a hairpiece, Miss Doe proceeded to brush through Maria's hair. All the while she was just trying to think of what to do with it.

"My, your hair is so much easier to brush now, M'lady," Miss Doe replied, as she brushed Maria's hair, doing her best to avoid her horns.

"Why thank you," Maria said. "But… I'm not sure I'm up for this."

"Zis is no time to be timid," Lumiere said, as he hopped up onto the vanity. "You must have grace, poise."

"Grace, poise," Maria thought, nodding. "Got it."

It was not long before Katrina returned with a bright blue bow in her grasp.

"You like this one?" She asked.

"It's lovely," Maria replied, smiling at the bow. "Go right ahead."

"There will be music," Lumiere continued. "Romantic candlelight, provided by myself, and when zi moment is right, you confess your love."

"Lumiere, I don't know if I can," Maria sighed.

"You care about Frederick, don't you?"

"Oh, more than anything."

"Finished!" Katrina answered, with a smile on her face.

Pleased, Maria looked in a mirror but for some reason can't find the bow anywhere on her head. Not one single spot. She turned towards Katrina, raising an eyebrow at the innocent little fawn.

"Katrina?" She asked. "Where's the bow?"

"On your tail." Katrina replied, giggling.

Curious, Maria slowly looked around behind her. Just as Katrina said, there was the bow, tied at the end of her tail. She turns back to the young doe, eyebrows lowered and still she smiled at the Doe regardless of her mischief.

"Very funny, Katrina," Maria replied, gently. "Now, could you please take it off my tail and give it to your mom, so she can put it in my hair?"

"Okay," Katrina said.

Maria turned around faced the vanity, as Katrina took the bow off her tail.

"Let me pick out a dress for you, Mistress," Lumiere offered, as he hoped off of the vanity.

As Maria sat by waiting, Lumiere approached the closest and browsed around for anything suitable to wear for this particular occasion. Soon enough, he came out holding a large, golden gown. Luckily, the candle sticks were burnt out and the gown remained intact.

"How about this one?"

Maria turned around to look at the golden gown and the moment she laid her eyes on it, a gasp escaped her lips. It was a very familiar dress she had seen since she was a child and a gown that she knew all too well in her life.

"It's beautiful, Lumiere!" Maria nearly squealed. "Not to mention that's the dress I've admired since I was a little girl!"

She clutched the gown gently from Lumiere's burnt candle sticks, holding the gown close to her and admiring the fabric work on the gown. She turned to Lumiere, a tear nearly escaping her eyes.

"Thank you, Lumiere."

"It's an honor and a privilege, Princess," Lumiere replied, bowing to the mistress with a smile.

Maria turned back to her vanity, looking at herself with the dress over it. Indeed, this gown would be perfect for the ball and she had hoped for one day to finally get to wear it at the proper age. And considering the circumstances, this was all the more the perfect time to wear the gown. In all that time, that much she spent in her thoughts, one particular thought crossed her mind.

"I wonder how Frederick's doing."

* * *

Meanwhile, Frederick was in his room getting ready for the ball. The first thing he wanted to do was look his best and so he sought the advice fo Madame de la Grande Bouche, considering her expertise in the fashion sense. The dresser in question was more than happy to help with that matter the moment Frederick asked.

"What kind of outfits do you have for me, Madame?" Frederick asked. "Particularly for the ball, of course."

"Oh, my, let's have a look, shall we?" The wardrobe replied, excitedly.

Opening her doors, she revealed a whole line up of outfits. They were all nice suits for Frederick, several of which would work great for any occasion. But out of all the suits she had, there was one particular attire that attracted Frederick's attention. He pulled out a blue dress jacket with gold trimming and golden buttons.

"I think I'll wear this one," Frederick said, holding it up.

"Oh yes, it's a dashing suit, and it brings out your eyes too!" The wardrobe agreed, smiling. "I think you should wear it, sir."

Fitting himself into the suit, Frederick carefully pulled his arms through the sleeves and smiled at himself in the mirror. Indeed, he DID look rather dashing in the blue tuxedo jacket. Just then, Gutknecht entered the room and looked impressed with the wardrobe choice Frederick picked out.

"Hell, master Frederick," He said with a kind smile.

"Hi Gutknecht," Frederick answered, turning towards Gutknecht. "How do I look?

"You look simply charming, sir. You know, that outfit used to belong to Maria's father."

"Really?" Frederick asked, raising an eyebrow.

Now that Gutknecht brought that up, Frederick did remember Maria having mentioned her parents the other night. But even so, he wondered why he had never seen them in the castle. But with everything that was going on all day, Frederick didn't have a chance to ask Maria about the subject. So, since this was his chance to get further information, he figured Gutknecht would know about them.

"What happened to him, or her mother?"

Gutknecht took a deep breath, and simply shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Master Frederick. I cannot talk about it; it's a rather heartbreaking story."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Frederick apologized, sighing.

"It's quite all right; it's all in the past now," Gutknecht replied, as he headed to the door. "The Mistress wants to know when you will be ready."

"Tell Maria I'll be ready in a few minutes," Frederick answered, with a smile. "Can you also tell Maria to save a dance for me?"

"Of course, sir," He replied, smiling.

With the conversation at an end, Gutknecht left the room and closed the door behind him. Madame de la Grande Bouche turned to Frederick with a curious look, she couldn't help but notice that one particular gleam in Frederick's eye when he spoke about Maria's parents. Naturally, she had to know what was on his mind.

"So, do you like Maria?"

"Me?" He asked, turning to her. "Um… Yes, I do. She's kind, caring, and…"

"And what?" The Dressed asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… She has a beautiful smile."

A look of surprise dawned on the Madame's face, slowly changing as a smile formed in it's place. It didn't take much effort to see what was on Frederick's mind, even if it wasn't revealed completely. She knew deep down that Frederick was slowly falling in love with Maria. It was only a matter of time starting now. If all goes as planned, this will soon be a happy ending for everyone in the castle.


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: This chapter was written by me, Holbyta, Samoapheonix9, and Wrestlemaniac829.**

Finally, after a long day of preparation, the night of the ball had arrived. For the first time in a great deal of time, everyone in the castle had something to look forward to and thus everyone attended this special occasion. Objects danced with their fellow objects, the animals danced with the animals, and in-between there was a mixture of both on the dance floor. Among the attended guests, Gutknecht, Manx, and Madame de la Grande Bouche stood near the refreshment table talking amongst themselves. In the midst of their conversation, Miss Doe approached them.

"How is everyone, tonight?" She asked kindly.

"Quite well, actually," Manx replied. "I say this ball was an excellent idea, MIss Doe."

"Thank you, Manx."

They bow to each other, as Miss Doe slowly turned to face Gutknecht.

"Um, Gutknecht?"

"Yes?" The wooden butler replied.

"Would this nice old chap be so kind as to partake in a dance with me?"

"I'd love to," Gutknecht replied, smiling.

He extends his hand and grasps Doe's paws in gentle fashion, the two walking together to join the others in the Dance Floor.

"I must warn you; I may be a little stiff."

Miss Doe simply giggled in response, as the two began to dance together. Because when it was all said and done, none of that mattered except for one thing: Tonight was going to be a magical night and everyone was going to remember this. Katrina, who was also among the group, watched in amazement seeing her mother dance with such beauty and grace. She was awestruck to see her mother in a way she had never seen before. Manx, standing next to Katrina, simply shook his head with a hint of jealousy.

"Wow!" She said. "Mommy dances so pretty; so does Mr. Gutknecht."

"I can dance just as good as him," Manx retorted, turning to the wardrobe. "Madame, care to dance?"

"Why, I'd love to Manx," The Wardrobe answered.

Naturally, it was quite an awkward situation considering that the Wardrobe had no arms whatsoever. Regardless, the two managed to have their dance as they bounded across the floor with such grace. For certain, they managed to find a way to work around their obvious flaws and actually found a way to put them to good use... Most of the time.

"It's been a while since we've danced, hasn't it?" Manx asked.

Suddenly, he yelped as he felt a sharp pain from a rather familiar place.

"Heh, sorry about that," The wardrobe said, her wooden face flushing a rosy hue.

"Please... Step off... My tail."

Indeed, the Wardrobe's foot was firmly positioned on the cat's tail. She gasped, realizing why Manx was in such pain.

"Oh goodness Manx, I'm so sorry!" She apologized, stepping off his tail. "It's not broken is it?"

"No, no," Manx answered, even as he winced in pain. "It's quite alright."

Despite the minor setback, they continued their dance together. In the meantime, on the other side of the dance floor, Lumiere was hand-in-hand with Babette. Or in this case, candlestick-in-feather to be exact.

"Oh, mon cheri," Lumiere mused. "You are as light as a feather. Considering that you are a bird."

"Oh Lumiere," Babette giggled, batting her eyes. "You're too much."

Just then, at that very moment, Cogsworth came running down the stairs and was practically exhausted by the time he reached the floor. For he had a rather important announcement to make, as everyone turned to face him.

"Quickly, quickly!" He shouted. "They're coming, they're coming!"

At that sudden announcement, Manx almost dropped his monocle.

Excuse me, Madame," He said, bowing. "But I must conduct the orchestra."

Manx rushed off, grabbing a baton along the way and stood in front of the living instruments, all gathered together and awaiting for the cue to start playing.

"And I think I shall play the piano," Gutknecht said, making his way there.

"That would be lovely," Miss Doe nodded.

With that said, Gutknecht approached the Piano and sat down in front of this fine instrument.

"Oh my, I'm actually kind've nervous. It's been years."

Gutknecht was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Manx tap the baton. Gutknecht chuckled sheepishly, as Manx simply raised an eyebrow and shook his head. Taking a deep breath, Gutknecht cracked his wooden knuckles and proceeded to play a tune, as all the other instruments followed in suit to the melody.

For at that very moment, with the music playing in the background, a benevolent figure stepped down the west wing steps. Emerging from her room, Maria approached the doors garbed in a golden dress, complete with matching golden gloves. Just for this one occasion, her hair was piled on top of her head in a small, petite pony tail.

In suit, Frederick emerged down the East Wing steps. As beautiful as Maria looked this evening, Frederick looked rather handsome in his attire. Dressed in his blue tuxedo jacket with gold trimming, with the black boots in addition, Frederick had looked absolutely marvelous. He turns to Maria and smiles, the latter returning the smile as they got closer and closer together before stepping through the doors and into the ballroom. Everyone turned to face the two figures approach, looking in awe at the beautiful couple and the music builds up as they made their way to the center of the hall.

In the midst of their actions, as mood music for the lovely couple, Miss Doe quietly began to sing a beautiful melody.

_Tale as old as time_  
_True as it can be_  
_Barely even friends_  
_Then somebody bends_  
_Unexpectedly._

As Miss Doe sang her heart out, Frederick and Maria turned to see one another face-to-face. Frederick bowed to Maria, who in return curtsied to him. She in turn held his elbow in her grasp, as he escorted the fair beast closer and closer to the dance floor. All the other dancers formed a large circle of sorts, just big enough so it would seem they were dancing alone. For this was their enchanted evening as much as it was for the whole staff.

_Just a little change_  
_Small to say the least_  
_Both a little scared_  
_Neither one prepared_  
_Beauty and the Beast._

In one hand, Frederick held onto Maria's and with the other he wrapped it around her waist. Maria smiled in response, doing the same to Frederick. Such a huge moment this was for her, she practically gulped rather nervously. But still, Frederick's smile was enough to ensure her that all's well and held her safely in his arms. Then, slowly but surely, they began to dance inside of the large, empty circle as everyone silently watched the two figures dance with such grace.

_Ever just the same_  
_Ever a surprise_

Soon, they were so confident with each other, they began to dance a little faster than before. For what started out as a simple dance between the two grew into a beautiful waltz. The servants looked on in wonderment, having never imagined a moment like this would take place.

_Ever as before_  
_Ever just as sure_  
_As the sun will rise_

_Tale as old as time_  
_Tune as old as song_  
_Bittersweet and strange_  
_Finding you can change_  
_Learning you were wrong_

But like all good things, this dance was coming to an end as the two proceeded to dance at a much slower pace. Just then, in the heap of the moment, Maria closed her eyes and leaned onto Frederick's chest, a smile on her face. Frederick was rather surprised at first, but he warmed up with a smile, as he leaned his head onto Maria's. The servants were rather speechless and didn't know how to respond to that. But perhaps in this case, the action itself spoke louder than words.

_Certain as the sun_  
_Rising in the east_  
_Tale as old as time_  
_Song as old as rhyme_  
_Beauty and the Beast._

Slowly and softly, Lumiere dimmed the candles and the room grew ever so darker. He turns to the couple and smiles, watching Maria and Frederick walk out of the dance hall holding each other's arms.

_Tale as old as time_  
_Song as old as rhyme_  
_Beauty and the Beast_

As soon as they stepped out of the room, the doors closing behind them, it was not long before every servant and resident in the kingdom cheered with great joy. For they knew that once the two were fully in love the curse would soon be lifted. Finally, if all goes as planned, they would finally be free. All they had to do now was wait… Wait for Frederick to propose to Maria, to make their love official.

* * *

High on the balcony, as they watched the stars in the sky, Maria had never felt as nervous than this. Never before had she felt so happy, as great as she felt she'd been dancing in Frederick's arms. For in those few blissful moments, she'd forgotten about everything else, even the curse. And oh, oh how she hoped that Frederick felt the same. But how could she know for sure? For she knew a man as handsome as Frederick no doubt deserved a more beautiful human maiden, like his bride-to-be. That's the kind of woman he deserved, not the hideous creature that Maria had become all these ten years. Still, she didn't want to ruin this moment, Maria just had to reach out… She had to try.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," She finally managed to say, striving for a light tone.

"You were expecting things not to go well?" Frederick asked, smiling at her.

"Well, sort of," Maria admitted, till she started babbling. "I mean, I haven't danced in years. I was utterly terrified I'd step on your foot, or something and you'd never be able to think about tonight without remembering that one little thing…"

"Maria," Frederick interrupted gently, giving her a sense of assurance. "Even if you had stepped on my foot, that certainly wouldn't have been the only thing I'd remember. For one thing… You look beautiful."

Maria would've felt happy in response to such a compliment, but she couldn't bear to hear that. Besides, she was absolutely certain he was merely just being his usual kind self. Surely Frederick did not mean those words, he couldn't have. Maria almost couldn't face him, as she looked away to face the night sky.

"Maria."

At the sound of his voice, Maria forced herself to turn back and face Frederick. It was just as Maria was nervous about. The look of true concern on his face made her heart race and yet such adrenaline felt exciting.

"Maria, is something bothering you? You've been acting strange ever since we came out here."

"Well…"

Now Maria just had to think fast. If she said 'nothing,' she knew he'd take her at her word and change the subject, regardless if he suspected that it was more than that. After all, Frederick was just that nice of a guy. But at the same time, she wanted so much to tell him how she truly felt and express her true feelings right then and there. And yet, for as much as she desired, she just couldn't quite pluck up the courage to do so.

"Are you... Happy here at the castle?" She finally blurted out. "With us… With me?"

"Yes, of course," Frederick replied.

He was rather surprised that Maria would ask such a question. Still, Maria saw a shadow pass over the features on his face. Quickly enough that anyone who didn't know him well would miss it. Maria saw it, however, and prepared herself for the worst.

"But…" she prompted when he didn't say anything.

"I worry about my parents," He admitted, followed by a sigh. "My mother has been getting sick, even when they left. I know the servants at home will take great care of her and I'm sure she's probably getting better. But sometimes, I wish I could at least see her, just to know that she's all right."

Frederick was lost in his thoughts about his mother, that all it took was one look at Maria's face to snap him out of it. Thinking that he just made Maria worried, he tried his best to smile and move on.

"I'm sorry, that was rather selfish of me. I shouldn't have brought that up, tonight of all nights. We should be having fun… That's all that matters right now.

"No, it's all right."

Maria wanted to add 'I know what it's like to miss your parents,' to show Frederick that she knows how it feels… But she didn't. Still, she felt bad since it was because of her that Frederick was deprived of his family. He talked about sounding selfish for bringing up the subject, but really Maria was selfish for her actions. So instead, she looked him right in the eye and told him:

"Come with me, I have something I want you to see."

Maria proceeded to lead Frederick up the stairs to her bedroom. Frederick initially hesitated on the doorstep, having remembered the last time he was in there. But, at Maria's nod, Frederick eased up and followed her until they were inside in front of a single table. There lay both the mirror and the enchanted rose, which remained as it stood when he first saw it. At this point, the rose was barely recognizable as more than a few dead petals were left attached to a stem. Maria ignored the rose; instead, she picked up the mirror.

"Here," She said, holding it out to Frederick. "Ask this mirror to show you anything, anything you desire, and it will."

"Really?" Frederick doubtedly asked, eyeing the mirror.

"Try it," She urged.

"Alright," Frederick gave in, looking back to the mirror. "Please, can I see my parents?"

In a brief flash of light, the Mirror shone bright with its magic glow causing him to blink rapidly just to adjust. As soon as he looked back, Maria watched his face turn pale in the misty light from the mirror. He gripped it hard in his hands, which nearly shook at what he saw before him.

"Oh no!"

"What is it?" Maria asked, though she felt she already knew.

"Mother… I can see her. She's very sick. Father's at her bedside, holding her hand…"

As if to emphasize his point, a voice issued from the mirror, echoing ever so slightly. His father's voice and he sounded very, very sad.

"If only Fred were here; he won't get to say goodbye."

Frederick forced himself to look away; the pain was unbearable for his eyes to see. As soon as his concentration was off, the mirror slowly turned dark. Maria gave him a moment or two to compose himself, leaving her to consider her choices. On one hand, she could keep Frederick here, regardless. After all, he made a promise to stay forever, and she knew him well enough to know that he would keep it. He would keep it, no matter how painful it was for him to watch his mother die from a distance. She had just days to get him to declare his love for her and time was running out. On the other hand, she could release him from his promise so that he could go home to his mother. She, Maria, would be left without hope, but at least Frederick would be with his parents again. Perhaps even nursing his mother back to health if he could. It had to be one or the other; there was no time to compromise. Maria knew what she wanted; she knew what she should do if she truly loved Frederick. Her heart told her which choice she had to make. Without looking at Frederick, she took a deep breath and makes her choice.

"Frederick, much as you've come to mean to me, your mother needs you more. Go home. I release you from your promise to stay here."

"What?" Frederick looked at her, startled.

"Go home. Take care of your mother. You should be there, with your family."

"But what about my promise; I could go home and come back when my mother… When she's better."

"No!" Maria said quickly.

She couldn't help a quick glance at the rose, a dead petal falls off the rose. She simply just turns away, but does not turn her gaze to Frederick.

"No, Frederick. You don't understand. If you left and came back, everything would be… Different. I can't explain, but it would be… No, it's better if you just go home and forget you were ever here."

"Forget you? Maria, that's awful. I could never forget about you. I'll go home to take care of my mother, but I'll be back. I promise!"

Frederick then turned to the door and hurried out of the room.

"No, Frederick, wait!" Maria called after him. clutching his arm before he reached the door.

Frederick turned back towards Maria, tears streaming down her face and for a moment they say nothing. But then, Maria took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with the other paw.

"Frederick… There's something else I need to show you."

Confused, Frederick looked skeptical at first, but judging by the expression on Maria's face, she insisted that he'd follow her. So Frederick allowed Maria to lead him to another section of the room, to a desk drawer with a broken mirror on top. She then opened one of the drawers, reached inside, and took out a small wooden box with strange carvings. She then flipped open the box and took out a small object wrapped in paper. Unwrapped, it was revealed to be a small glass vial with a red liquid clearly visible and covered with a cork.

"What is this?" Frederick asked.

"We've known what illness your mother had when she came to the castle. Manx and Cogsworth explained it to me some time ago… It was something that I had when I was much younger. They said that this vial contains a special medication, created by rare herbs that is guaranteed to remove the illness."

Frederick stuttered, "I…I-I don't know what to say…"

"I do," Maria said. "I'm sorry, Frederick. I should've told you about this sooner. But I was so scared and angry back then, it didn't matter to me at the time. Then, you came along, everyone was happier, you made me happy and… Your mother deserves better."

Maria then hands Frederick the vial, holding her arm out so he could take it from her paw.

"So here, take it… Take the vial and leave. Make sure she takes the whole vial in order for it to work, before it's too late.

"But how do I get home in time? The village is miles away from here."

"Go down to the stables and look for a black horse named Magic. It was a gift from my father when I was small, it's the fastest horse on the whole stable. Take the horse, and it'll get you wherever you need to go in a hurry. Remember: Magic, learn the name and you'll find the stable."

Frederick reached out toward Maria's paw and made to take the vial. Maria sighed and proceeded to turn away. But then, Frederick actually grabbed her paw with both hands and she felt herself pulled toward him. To her surprise, he kissed her from out of nowhere. She was stunned at first, but then she slowly closed her eyes and allowed Frederick to keep going. They then cut off after that, as Frederick held the vial close to his chest.

"I 'will' come back Maria; I never break my promises… Ever!"

Frederick didn't wait for Maria to respond, as he stormed out of the room. Maria silently reached out for Frederick, but he was already too far away. For a moment, she stood silent for a long time until his footsteps, echoing through the halls, slowly faded away. She turned her attention to the balcony, walking into the night air and stared out toward the castle grounds. She waited for Frederick to take off, as she attempted to hold another tear on her face.

Just then, Gutknecht entered the room with a look of concern on his face. "Maria?" He asked. "Whatever is the matter? Where's Frederick gone off to in such a hurry?"

For a moment, Maria said nothing to her old friend. Except one statement did escape her lips.

"… I let him go."

Gutknecht was initially taken aback from that straight-forward statement. He hardly expected Maria to say those words, the thought in generally initially surprised him.

"Now why on earth would you do a thing like that?"

"I… I had to, Gutknecht. His mother was very sick, near death; I had to let him see her. I did it because… Because…"

Maria struggled to explain her reason, but by then Gutknecht had the whole thing figured out. With a smile, he walked over to Maria and placed his hand on her shoulder, as she turned to face him.

"You love him."

Maria quietly nodded in response, that was all Gutknecht needed to know. No words were needed to explain just how Maria truly felt about Frederick. He felt it in his heart and he understood how tough it was for Maria to do what she did.

Gutknecht smiled, even as Maria looked with a sad expression. He held his hands out to Maria and she approached Gutknecht, as he wrapped his arms around her. He gave her a gentle, loving hug as Maria cried against his shoulder.

"Oh, my dear, I have never been more proud of you than I am right now."

"Proud?" Maria asked, staring up in confusion. "But… He's gone. You, me, our friends… We'll never be human again."

"That doesn't mean a thing to me. I don't care if I have to be a wooden statue for the rest of my life. You've made a great sacrifice for him, my dear, and that's all that matters."

"But still… Why does it still sound like we lost?"

Gutknecht allowed Maria to back off for a moment, he pats her shoulders as she turns back to the balcony to stare off into the night sky. Gutknecht proceeds to leave the room slowly. He stops at the door, however, and turns back to Maria.

"Shall I inform the others?"

"Please do, Gutknecht," Maria said. "But do be subtle about it. Just tell them… What they need to know."

* * *

"SHE DID WHAT?!"

Indeed, Gutknecht did his best to be subtle about the news. But unfortunately, the moment he gathered all the staff and made the announcement, they didn't take it well. So, he was forced to reiterate.

"Yes, I'm afraid it's true: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Frederick La'Belle will not be joining us for the rest of the night… Not for a long time."

"He's going away?" Katrina asked sadly.

"But he was so close!" Lumiere wailed.

"After all these years ,the Mistress finally learned to love," Miss Doe mourned.

"Well, that's it, right?" Babette asked. "Zat should break the spell, right? Right?"

"It's not enough," Manx answered. "He must love her in return…and ask for her hand in marriage."

"… Now it's too late," Cogsworth speaks, his head down.

As all the staff members were discussing their predicament, Katrina curiously made her way to the front door only turning back to make sure that no one saw her leaving. Quietly, she worked her way towards a back door out of the castle, where the stables were. Curiously, she looked around until she saw what appeared to be Frederick entering the stables.

* * *

As for Frederick, he was unaware that he was being watched as he entered the barn. He passed by several stalls, each with a fancy name for each of the horses and all of which were of different color. Until he came upon the last stall with the name "Magic" and peered towards the fine creature. It was a unique kind of horse, something that Frederick had never seen before: A purebred black Arabian mare with a long, black mane and tail with red highlights.

When the horse saw Frederick, initially it was startled to see him, considering this was the first time the two had met. But Frederick, being patient and loving, softly calmed the horse down and let it know that he was a friend. The horse eased it's tension towards the only human it had seen in a long time and allows Frederick to saddle onto the horse. As soon as they were out of the barn, Frederick rode off into the night and was surprised at how fast the horse ran as everything around him passed by in a blur.

A few minutes while this was going on, Maria watched as Frederick rode off in the distance and far from her castle, Magic carrying him off at great speeds. A tear slid down her cheek knowing that she may 'never' see Frederick again even if he did promise. She then closed her eyes, lifted her head, and gave out a sad wolf-like howl towards the sky. Frederick could hear the howling even at a great distance, but he could not look back not until he reached the village. He could only hope his mother was still alive to see him… Before it was too late.


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: This chapter was written by me, Rory4 and Wrestlemaniac829**

It got very late in the evening by the time that Frederick had arrived back at his farm. Indeed, it had been a long time since he'd seen it. The farm was just as warm and inviting as it was the day he left. As he got close, he noticed the lights were on through the windows. Dismounting his horse, Frederick slowly approached the door. As soon as he stood in front of the door, he began to knock.

Slowly, the door opened and a man peered through the opening to see. Frederick knew the face of that man: Jean-Luc. The moment he recognized Frederick, his eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Master Fred?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes, Jean-Luc," Frederick replied, smiling. "It's me."

All of a sudden, Jean-Luc pulled the door open and wrapped his arms around Frederick pulling him into a tight embrace. He practically jumped up and down in joy seeing his old friend and master again.

"'Oh master Fred, you're home. I thought you were gone for sure!"

"It's…good to see you too," Frederick gasped, pulling out of the hug. "Where are my parents?"

"They're in their bedroom," Jean-Luc replied, his tone changed. "Your mother doesn't feel well."

"I know."

Frederick soon passed Jean-Luc walking inside the house. Jean-Luc, on the other hand, having no wish to see the look on Frederick's face when he sees what happened goes outside for air. Frederick slowly walks up the stairs, eventually entering the upstairs bedroom door. Slowly, he opened the door and peered inside.

"Mother? Father?"

It was quiet inside the room, only a solitary candle cast it's gentle glow upon the ashen pale figure that lay gasping for air on the bed. Her sad husband sat ever vigilant by her bedside, holding a thin hand. So depressed the man was, it was as if he blocked everything and didn't notice Frederick slowly approaching him.

"Father?"

Somehow, it stirred the father out of it and he rose shakily to his feet. He turned towards the voice and at first when he saw the man, he didn't recognize who it was. But as Frederick got closer to the light, it slowly dawned on the old man and quickly he closed the distance between himself and his long lost son.

"Frederick! My son," he said, hugging the boy. "You're home."

"Yes father, I am."

"But… But how did you escape?"

"I didn't… She let me go."

"Let you go?" His father asked, backing away so Frederick could see the confusion. "How is that possible? That monster…"

"Father, she's not some monster," Frederick interrupted sternly, but then spoke gently. "She's a nice and caring person."

"Person? Hardly, son. No matter how, it's a miracle you're home!"

Frederick smiled before turning to his ill-mother, slowly approaching her and kneeled down to see her face.

"Mother, can you hear me?"

His mother turned to Frederick, at least she could hear him but the damage was worse than he thought. His mother's voice was hoarse and cracked as she spoke, her eyes glassy as she tried to focus on her son's form hovering above her. There was no denying it; the illness was at it's critical peak. The mother was slowly dying before his eyes…

"Frederick? It cannot be!"

"It is, mother. I'm home."

Just then, Jean-Luc's voice was heard from downstairs, the man calling out toward the La'Belle family.

"Master Fred, Miss Gabriella is here."

"Tell her I'll be right down!" Frederick called out, bending down to kiss his mother's forehead. "I'll be back."

Frederick left the bedroom momentarily, walking downstairs but stops midway when he sees her. For there, standing at the front door, was Gabriella herself. The moment she saw Frederick, she immediately rushed towards him and embraced him.

"Frederick," She said, as she embraced him. "You're all right."

"Yes, Gabriella," Frederick said, holding her. "I told you I'd come back."

"Frederick..." Gabriella hesitated, pushing him back so they can see eye-to-eye. "You and your family have got to get out of here."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Your parents are in danger. The town thinks they're crazy because they said a beast held you captive."

"Yes, I was. But, she let me go."

"You mean to say that the story is true? Frederick, what manner of beast would be able to hold you captive?"

"I know it's hard to believe, Gabriella. At one moment, I was like a prisoner in that castle and bound against my own will and away from the people I loved. Indeed, I was held captive by a beastly creature… Or at least, that's what I thought. As time went by... There was more to her than I realized."

"Her?" Gabriella asked. "Frederick, what are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Frederick replied, shaking his head. "Anyway, what do you mean my parents are in danger?"

"It's my brother… I overheard Gaston telling my father he was going into town. He said something about going to look for men to find you. But then, I saw him come home with three ugly men. He told them that they were coming for you and your family. He also mentioned someone named D'Arque…"

"D'Arque?" Frederick raised an eyebrow. "The man that runs… The Maison De Loon!"

Suddenly, they heard a knock and they turned toward the closed front door. The knocking repeated, pounding on the door and they could see a shadow of sorts through the opening under the door. They heard no voice, but they knew that someone or something was out there. And by who, it may very well be Gaston and the others arriving for Frederick and his parents.

"You don't think…?"

"Wait here," Frederick says quietly.

Frederick slowly approached the door, as the figure knocks louder than before. Jean-Luc holds Gabriella back, as she watches with wide eyes as Frederick nears the door. As he's close to the door, the knocking suddenly stops and for a moment he just stands by the door unsure of what to do next. If it was Gaston out there, he knew he couldn't fight him off... But he would have to do so, if it means protecting his family. He takes a deep breath, slowly reaches the door-handle, turns it even slower and slower... Then thrusts the door open.

But to Frederick and Gabriella's surprise, there, standing in front of the door, was a little deer fawn.

"It… It… It's a fawn," Gabriella replied.

"Wait a minute," Frederick spoke, raising his eyebrow.

There was something odd about this deer fawn, as it gazed into Frederick's eyes. It looked like just about every other fawn in the forest, plenty of them to go around. And yet why did this particular fawn come to his door? Any other deer would be too scared to even approach town… Unless… Frederick looks down and sees something in the fawn's mouth: A dress of sorts, a pink dress clamped in it's mouth.

"Katrina?" he asked.

Slowly, Frederick gripped the dress and slowly pulled it out of the fawn's mouth, giving her a chance to breath. The little fawn blinked for a moment, then looked up at Frederick, a bashful look upon her face.

"Hi," she said.

There was a gasp coming from behind Frederick. He turned around, as Katrina looked from the side. Gabriella, eyes wide, stood silent by the steps and was taken aback by what she just heard. She couldn't believe it.

"Frederick…" Gabriella finally spoke. "Did that fawn just... Talk?"

Frederick just simply chuckled in response, understanding that he hadn't told her about this yet. He picks up the little fawn in an embrace before turning to face Gabriella.

"Gabriella, this is Katrina. Katrina, this is Gabriella."

It was an awkward meeting between the two. Gabriella did her best to be polite, at least giving a slight wave toward the little fawn.

"Hello."

"Hello, Miss Gabriella," Katrina replied, nodding her head before turning back to Frederick.

"Katrina… Why are you not wearing any clothes?" Frederick asked.

"I'm a Fawn, aren't I? Fawns don't normally 'wear' clothes."

Frederick raised an eyebrow. "Katrina…"

"It was the only way to get through in case someone got suspicious."

"Hmm… Clever.

"Frederick, why did you leave the castle? Don't you like us anymore?"

"Oh, Katrina," He said, sighing. "Of course I do. I told Maria I'll be back; however, I must tend to my mother till she gets better."

"Your mother? Is she sick?"

"At the moment…" Frederick admitted, before reaching into his pocket. "But not for long."

"I don't believe it." Gabriella said suddenly, "Your parents WERE telling the truth!"

"Yes, Gabriella, it's all true. But right now, I need you all to come with me upstairs and help with my mother. She doesn't have much time."

Without waiting for a response, Frederick carried Katrina upstairs to the bedroom with Gabriella following close behind. The entered the bedroom as the father and Jean-Luc turned to them, almost expecting someone else. But luckily, it was only Frederick and the others though they were surprised when he came in carrying a fawn in his arms.

"Frederick," Peter said, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you carrying a baby deer in your arms? And… Why does she look so familiar?"

"It's a long story, father, I'll explain later," Frederick answered, gently putting Katrina down. "Dad, in the time I spent in the castle, I found something that could help mother."

"You have? W-What is it?

Frederick again reached into his pocket and pulled out the object for everyone in the room to see: A tiny vial with the red liquid inside. They didn't know what to make of it and were quite unsure of Frederick's plan or how it would effect Olivia.

"Will it work?"

"I know it will; Maria told me it would."

"Maria? You mean… The Beast?"

"I know it sounds crazy… What am I saying? I do sound crazy telling you this. But, she told me that this was the same medicine, mixed with rare herbs, that were used to treat patients with the same illness that mother has. There's no other way; you have to trust me, for mother's sake."

Peter backed away slightly, as Frederick moved forward with the vial in hand. He looks down at his mother, the suffering woman down to her last breath and the color slowly faded in her eyes. Without hesitation, Frederick pulled the cork off the vial with one hand, with the other he steadily raised her head and opened her mouth. Frederick watched as he poured the whole vial into her mouth and helped her to swallow. He put the vial on the tableside and waited for the mixture to take effect hoping it worked.

Just then, Olivia's eyes fluttered open. For a brief moment, she rises up sharply on the bed giving a loud gasp and eyes wide open as she stared ahead, everyone standing back. Olivia then falls back onto the bed, her breathing going erratic at first before coming down to a steady pace. They moved closer to Olivia and watch in amazement as her pale skin turned brighter, the sweating faded away, and the color in her eyes returned. Then, she turned her head to Frederick and stared at one another. She blinked several times before she smiled and spoke softly but normally.

"Frederick."

"Mother?" Frederick asked. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better than I've ever felt in a long time," Olivia replied, as she slowly rises up from the bed. "Oh, Frederick..."

Olivia wrapped her arms around Frederick, he hugged back as tears fell down his face. Everyone around the room stared happily at this sight, even Katrina who cried a little.

"Frederick…." Olivia says. "I had prayed that you would come back to us."

"I'm glad I could, mother. But, I'm afraid I have to go back to the castle now."

"What?" Jean-Luc spoke, surprised. "But, Master Fred, you only just got here!"

"I'm sorry, but I made a promise to Maria that I would come back once my mother was no longer sick."

"Now, Frederick," Peter argued. "I realize that you had been locked in that castle for a log time. But let's be rational about this, you can't leave now!"

"And what about our wedding, Frederick?" Gabriella added. "My father expected us to be wed, as soon as you were safely back home."

"Gabriella, I…"

All of a sudden, there was another knock on the door interrupting the conversation. This time, Frederick was no longer surprised. Because he knew that it had to be someone that had come for his parents. He didn't know who, but they have come as expected.

"Who could that be?" Jean-Luc asked.

"Jean-Luc, keep everyone safe in the room," Frederick ordered, heading out the door. "Lock the door and don't let anyone inside but me."

"Yes, Master Fred."

Frederick opened the door and stepped out of the room, but then turned around just as Katrina was about to follow him. But he waved a finger in front of her face and shook his head.

"Katrina, stay here and keep an eye on my parents. Don't make a sound; if I don't come back, make sure everyone is out of the room…. Quietly."

"Okay, Frederick," Katrina nods.

She then looks to Gabriella, who's unsure what to do next.

"Could you help me put my clothes back on? It's kind of chilly in here."

"… Sure."

Frederick nodded and slowly closed the door, he could hear a faint click from the other side. At least his parents would be safe inside should Frederick fail to hold them off. As he went down the stairs, the force of the pounding on the door began to rattle the foundation of the house. Frederick now broke in a running pace and stopped by the door. He opened the door and peered through the opening.

"Yes?" He asked, turning to see an old man. "Monsieur D'Arque."

"Why, Frederick my boy, there you are!" Monsieur D'Arque said in mock joy. "And all in one piece as far as I can see!"

"Why, Frederick my boy, there you are!" Monsieur D'Arque spoke, a mock joy in his tone. "And all in one piece, as far as I can see!"

"What's going on?" Frederick asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Straight-to-business are we? Well, may as well get this over with: We are here for Monsieur and Madame La'Belle."

"Oh, there's no need for that, Monsieur. I'm home now, as you can see."

"Oh, sorry to disappoint you, Freddy," A voice remarked, revealing himself to be Gaston. "But this man has already been paid for a job and we simply can't let him leave 'empty-handed'."

"Gaston."

"I'm sorry, were you expecting someone else?" Gaston asked, peering over Frederick a moment. "As D'Arque said, we are here for your parents. We know they're in here; where are they?"

"Look, Gaston, we don't need to do this. I'm here, so now we can proceed with the wedding."

"The wedding?" Gaston asked, raising his eyebrow. "You mean… The betrothal is on then?"

"Yes, of course. Gabriella just came over a little while ago. I'll go get her." Frederick looked to the stairs and called out, "Gabriella, Gaston is here!"

The sound of the door clicking open and closes can be heard upstairs, footsteps echoed from above as Gabriella came down to see what Frederick asked.

"Frederick, is everything all… AAAHHH!"

Frederick turned around to find himself staring at the front end of a gun pointed straight towards his head. Gaston gives Frederick a stern expression, such that it meant he was really serious. It was then that Frederick knew... He was deceived.

"Sorry Freddy… But there isn't going to be wedding… Ever."

"What is this?" Frederick asked.

"And you call yourself a school-teacher?" Gaston mockingly asked, laughing. "Haven't you figured it out yet? There was 'never' going to be a wedding."

"What are you talking about? Your father likes me, he wants me to marry Gabriella."

"Yes… My 'father' wanted the marriage to take place. Freddy, I, on the other hand, did you a favor and allowed daddy to have his way, to convince you to consider marrying my sister. But... I 'never' agreed to allow you into our family. You really thought I was just going to let you waltz into our lives and turn my sister into a La'Belle? As if you hadn't already taken something from me?"

"What have I taken from you?"

"My name, Freddy… YOU are not Gaston!" He yelled, shoving Frederick to the ground and chuckled as he entered. "Believe me, Freddy, I get it! You want to be me! I mean, who wouldn't? I've got it all! I've got the looks, I've got the master-plans, I've got this whole town in the palm of my hand… But wait, there's more. I can have any girl I want S-N my D."

For emphasis, Gaston pulled out a comb from his belt and combs his hair back.

"Styling my do. So, you want to be me? Frederick La'Belle? You want to be Gaston? Face it Freddy-boy, you never wanted to marry my sister for 'love'. All you ever wanted was my family's money because your family is poor as dirt... That's right. You know it, I know it, the WHOLE town knows it. You just want your family to be rich just like mine... Just… Like… Me."

Gaston lowered his head till it was close to Frederick's and gave him a hard stare.

"But if you want to "be" Gaston… You have to get through me, first."

"… Why are you REALLY doing this?" Frederick asked, shaking his head. "You already proved you're better than me."

"Oh, gullible-Freddy, it's because I can… Because, well, it's fun," Gaston replied, chuckling but then grabbed Frederick by the collar. "And because YOU made it personal. The limelight wasn't enough for you, so you had to move in on my sister."

"You're insane! You're the one who belongs in the asylum, not my parents!"

"I would… If my old friend, D'Arque, and his boys didn't work…for me," Gaston smirked, turns to two guards. "Seize them."

Just then, Gabriella ran towards Gaston, who turned around only to receive a smack clear across his face. Frederick turned in surprise to see Gabriella standing in front of him, a look of anger and hate in her eyes.

"You're a monster, Gaston!" She said. "I'm going to tell daddy about what you're doing!"

Slowly, Gaston arched his neck back forward and stood before his sister, a red mark along his left cheek. Gaston breathed heavily through his nostrils, sounding for all the world like an enraged bull. He then gripped Gabriella tightly by her wrists and squeezes tightly, as she gasps lightly in pain.

"I broke your wrists once, I can do it again, Gabi. You wouldn't want Daddy to find you the same way as the 'others', would you?"

Frederick pushed Gaston to the side, causing him to release Gabriella, who fell flat on her bum.

"Then I'll tell him!"

As he exited the house, he halted and his eyes were wide open to what he sees. A large group of people standing outside his house, all of them carrying pitchforks, torches, and any other weapon they can lay their hands on. The whole village had the house completely surrounded.

"What is all this?"

"We're here to escort your 'poor' parents to the asylum!" Monsieur D'Arque replied slyly, rubbing his skeletal hands together.

"And you got the entire town involved?! Gabriella's right about you, Gaston… You ARE a monster!"

Gaston whirled away from his sister, looking down his nose at Frederick, arms crossed over his expansive chest.

"I told you Freddy, I have this WHOLE town in the palm of my hand. Every villager you see before you, they all work for me! I'm the town-hero, I'm the one who hunts all the beasts, and everything in this town goes because 'I' say it goes. And anyone who opposes me faces the consequences… Just like 'all' the dead men in Gabi's sad little love story."

"What do you mean 'All the dead men'?"

"Oh, like you really thought you were Gabriella's 'first' suitor to woo her? Face it, Freddy, you're no different compared to the 'dozens' of men who wanted in on our lives: Dead weight ready to be tossed into a moat… Never to be seen again. And who's going to stand for you, Frederick? Who in this town will believe that your family is not insane? Are you going to deny that they were running around wailing about some terrible, horrible beast? Is anyone here going to oppose me?!"

The villagers just stood where they were, tightening their weapons and pitchforks. Hardly any other emotion on their face was shown, but the fear was felt and Frederick could see it. No one was going to stand against Gaston. He smirked and laughed humorously.

"I am 'always' right, Frederick. You and your family were imprisoned in this town for all your lives, and your imprisoned… Now."

"I don't think so!"

Suddenly, Frederick whipped out the magic mirror that he had accidentally taken with him and stared into it.

"Show me Maria!"

And all at once, the mirror flashed in a blinding haze. Frederick flipped the mirror around to face everyone in front of his house. And there, low and behold, Maria in all her glory, crying her heart out as she stood out on her balcony. To all the villagers watching, however, she was making a call for blood, like a terrible beast from their legends come to life.

"Everyone, don't be afraid! I know she may look dangerous, but I have seen this beast for myself. She's very kind and gentle; she'd never hurt anyone."

Suddenly, Frederick felt a hard shove on his side as Gaston elbowed him and pulled the mirror out of Frederick's hand as he fell. Gaston faced all the villagers.

"Kind and gentle? This 'thing'? This 'animal'? This 'monster'? You see, he's just as crazy as his parents. I've hunted many great beasts before and I know this type. A blood-thirsty creature, which will rampage our village in the middle of the night! Kill us all!"

As Gaston spoke, he stared deeply into the eyes of each villager, every person surrounding him. The hunter in him was out in full-force, he had everyone's attention.

"We're not safe until its head is mounted on my wall! I say we KILL the beast!"

Soon, Frederick's blood began to boil at critical levels. Every word from Gaston's mouth was like a dagger stabbing into his heart and finally… He couldn't take it anymore. Enraged, he pulled back his arm and punched Gaston clear in the face, causing him to fall over backwards and everyone to gasp.

"If you lay one hand on her, Gaston, I swear to God, I'll tear you limb from limb!"

Gaston slowly stood up, wiping his mouth. He spat out blood from his mouth, but that wasn't all he spat out. For in the midst of the red pool there were a tooth or two floating on top. Gaston stared at them for a moment, silent at first. But then, he simply shook his head and laughed it off.

"You really think you can stop me? Look at him," He called to the frightened mob. "He defends this horrible creature! He would have us in imminent danger! He would sacrifice his own people to save the life of the devil himself!"

"Don't listen to him!" Frederick cried, but to no avail.

Frederick's voice was covered by the mob's shouting, Gaston was thriving on the control he had over the crowd. He turned to stare at the Beast in the strange mirror, but all he saw was opportunity: He would take everything from Frederick, and gain everything he wanted. The fall of yet another of Gabriella's suitors, and a new trophy for the spot over his fireplace. He approached the three hunters, those he hired to hunt down Frederick.

"Lock them all in the cellar; make sure they cannot escape," He ordered.

"Wait, Gaston," Hans the German Hunter spoke. "If there is a beast roaming a castle, then you need the best to capture it. I say we capture the beast… Together!"

"Aye!" Angus the Scottish Hunter shouted. "I aim to skin it's hide and wear it as me own!"

Gaston smirked at the three men, knowing he could count on them, nodding in approval.

"The rest you may have; but remember, the head is mine! Before we depart, make sure we cannot be followed by those who wish to stop us."

As Gaston stomped away to ready the horses, Angus ordered for the townspeople to capture the parents and their valet, while the rest grabbed Frederick and Gabriella and hurled them into the cellar. The rest pull out Peter and Jean-Luc, who struggled against their grasp.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked, outraged. "Let me go; my wife needs treatment!

"Ow, ow!" Jean-Luc shouted, dragged harshly. "Not so hard!"

"What of the old woman?" Angus asked.

"I said ALL of them!" Gaston shouted, mounting his horse. "Carry the hag down in her bed if you must! And make it fast!"

Soon, it was not long before Olivia was carried out the door and the townspeople did in fact carry her by her bed. But then, they dipped the bed to the side and caused Olivia to fall into the cellar, though Peter managed to catch her in time. But they were too late to stop the cellar from being locked and barred.

"Come comrades," Wolfe the Russian hunter announced. "We have a beast to kill. Tonight: We bathe in it's blood!"

The entire mob cheered, excited for the downfall of the dreadful beast that may plague their village. In a few moments, by the time they all left, there was nothing but the smoky dust floating through the cold night air, gleaming like a promise in the moonlight. For there, the night unveils it's cruelties… Doom for Frederick, his family, and Maria.


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: Chapter co-written by Rory4 and Wrestlemaniac829.**

The light was all but gone on this lonely night, not even a speck could be seen through a tiny crack on the door. The cold winter air had since become unbearable, covering nearly every form of sounds for miles. All but the heavy breathing coming from the cellar's occupants, the group huddled together attempting to keep warm. Frederick, apart from the group, had been hard at work trying to bang his way out of the cellar. As the group had noticed, his efforts were all in vain.

"Can't let them hurt Maria!" He shouted. "I have to warn her!"

Watching Frederick hitting the door made Gabriella wince each and every time. It was so painful for her to watch him throw his weight against a strong-as-steel door. The only thing that seemed to be getting broken is Frederick, who was clearly hurting himself. Gabriella just couldn't stand it.

"Frederick, all you're going to accomplish ramming yourself against the door is getting a bruised body. You'll be of no use to Maria even if you did break the door. You need to sit for a moment so we can calmly think of a way to incinerate my brother and his grotesque followers!"

"She's right, son," Peter said. "Let's just calmly sit down and think-"

"There's no time, don't you get it?!" Frederick cried, tears running down his cheeks. "I can't lose her… I just can't."

The very words uttered from Frederick's lips made Gabriella's hand drop to her heart. In that moment, her own eyes welled with tears gazing at Frederick's face. Gabriella believed that she knew Frederick at first glance, but as it turned out she really didn't see him for what he truly is. For now, he truly had the look of a man that was about to lose the woman he loved forever. It was painful to even ask such a question, even harder to think about but she wondered. Did he love this Beast he called Maria?

"Frederick, do you really care for her that much?" Gabriella asked.

Frederick stopped what he was doing, the question itself made him pause. He takes a deep breath and slowly turns towards Gabriella and doing the best he can to answer the question.

"O-Of course I do… She saved my mother's life. She's... My friend."

"No," Gabriella said, shaking her head. "She means a lot more to you than that… Doesn't she?"

Frederick was close to answering that all important question. But before he could , a small set of knocking interrupted him followed by a rather familiar voice.

"Is everybody in there?" The voice asked. "Hello? Frederick? Why did you leave me all alone?"

Frederick turned to the cellar door, he knew that voice was familiar.

"Katrina?"

"I knew you were all inside there!" The little fawn shouted excitedly. "Can I come in, too?"

Through such an innocent voice, the atmosphere in the small, damp cellar brightened considerably, as everyone smiled in relief and silently thanked the lord for this miracle. Because now they knew one thing for sure: They were going to escape this prison!

"Katrina, listen to me," Frederick instructed. "Princess Maria is in grave danger! We need you to get us out of this cellar!"

"In danger? Oh no! How do I get you out?"

"Listen closely!" Peter shouted. "Around the house is a shed, leaned next to it is an axe. Go get it!"

"But I'm a fawn, I can't hold an axe with my hooves…"

"Just do it!"

In response, the scattering of hooves could be heard from outside. They faded into silence and they could only hope Katrina could find a way to lift that axe. As they waited for the fawn to return, Frederick grabbed Gabriella's shoulders and looked her clear in the face.

"Gabriella, when we get out, run back home and get your father. He'll know what to do… I hope."

Gabriella nodded, understanding what she had to do. Her adrenaline already racing in preparation, she needed all she could muster for the urgent flight-on-foot back to her house. She could only hope that if anyone could put a stop to her brother's rampage it was her father. Or else, the Princess wouldn't be the only one who was doomed.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the castle, Cogsworth had been pacing back-and-forth for quite some time, signs of nervousness overwhelming him, as everyone watched him ponder in his thoughts. They couldn't but think if it was true: That all hope of breaking the spell was truly lost. At the moment, it seemed everything they've done was all in vain.

"He never should've come here in the first place!" Manx grumbled.

"Manx!" Lumiere said. "How could you say such a thing? Frederick was the best thing that has ever happened to zis castle."

"If you say so, Lumiere," Manx retorted, not looking at Lumiere. "But if he really cared for us, then…"

Just then, a loud cry caused everyone to turn in one direction. Miss Doe had entered the room, practically in tears and the occupants were greatly concerned.

"What's the matter, Miss Doe?" Gutknecht asked.

"Katrina's disappeared from the castle!" She answered. "I cannot find her anywhere! Oh, where could she be?"

Miss Doe covered her face with her hooves, trying desperately to halt the rain of tears falling from her face. Gutknecht approached toward Miss Doe and held her close in a soft embrace.

"Don't worry Miss Doe, we'll find her at once. I promise."

Just as everyone began to disperse to search for the wayward fawn, shouting could be heard from outside the castle gates stopping them in their tracks.

"What on Earth?" Manx asked.

Manx had every reason to be just as curious as everyone else. None of the voices outside sounded familiar and hardly anyone other than Frederick visited the castle. He strolls over to one of the nearby windows, looking out to see what was the matter. He stares out for a long time, as everyone else shows a great deal of concern. As Manx eventually turns back, his face looked greatly pale.

"Emergency, people!"

Manx lead Lumiere, Cogsworth, Gutknecht, and Miss Doe towards the window, in a great hurry just to see what Manx saw. As soon as they were by the window, they were all shocked by what they saw before their eyes. Outside, a great number of humans were making their way through the gates. They had not expected so many humans to visit the castle all of a sudden, at least not all at once. But it was only then that they slowly realized that these humans were obviously not as friendly as Frederick had been. Judging by the looks on their expressions, these humans were more like wild animals… The very ravenous type.

"Sacrebleu," Lumiere cried out. "Invaders!"

"Aren't those people from the local village?" Gutknecht asked.

"I'm afraid so," Miss Doe nodded fearfully. "Whatever are they doing here?"

"Look!" Manx cried, a hint of panic in his tone. "That muscular man up front has the mirror!"

"Where did he get-" Miss Doe was about to inquire, when the humans started pounding at the entrance doors.

"Warn the Mistress!" Cogsworth cried. "If it's a fight they want, then that's what they'll get. Who's with me?"

Cries of agreement echoed throughout the inside of the castle. For if these humans had arrived simply for the destruction of their fair Princess, they would not allow them to have it their way. Though the humans were fierce and undoubtedly had strong weapons, these servants were willing to defend their maiden with their very lives and risk even their chance of human freedom to protect her. For this was that time; this was war!

* * *

As all the servants prepared for battle, Maria had sat by her vanity during all that time. Once again, Maria was garbed in her green dress and purple cloak. She just sat there in her thoughts, a single tear slowly fell down her cheek. Just then, Gutknecht rushed into the room, a worried expression on his face.

"Pardon me, Mistress?" He asked.

"What is it? She asked, her demure listless.

"I'm afraid the castle is under attack!"

Gutknecht waited for Maria's response, but the Mistress couldn't call forth the effort to react to his words. As concerned as he sounded, Maria neither shared her own fear or anger of the news. For a long moment, all she does is stare at her reflection in the mirror, and then turns away and down at the floor.

"Let them come," She mumbled.

"What?" Gutknecht asked, stunned. "But why?"

"There is nothing left here worth salvaging."

It was all Maria would say to Gutknecht, who could find no words to respond to such a straight-forward statement. Maria was serious about allowing them to come in, Gutknecht knew this was worse than he thought. A part of him wanted to snap Maria out of his misery, to talk some sense into her. But instead, he walks out the room, without making a sound.

* * *

At that very same time, the villagers burst through the door, using a large cut-down tree from the forest. Everyone in the castle took battle-ready positions, as if expecting company inside. But for them, there was no turning back now. This was their time to defend their home… Not to mention Gaston would not allow them to leave so easily. Among all the villagers, Angus was one of the first to enter as he eyed around the hall. Something about the castle just felt so intriguing.

"I know of this place," He spoke. "It's the castle of the Royal family that disappeared years ago."

"Hardly looks fit to house a pauper," Gaston snorted.

"Don't be fooled, laddie, I heard many stories. So much history was in these halls, back in it's prime it was once the most well known site of the old times. But I also heard that a mighty beast appeared one night, supposedly slaughtered everyone in the castle… The family… And a child, too."

"Then all the more reason to dispatch of the vile thing!" Gaston replied, looking around and about.

The hunter instincts were in full swing, as if Gaston could sense that they were being watched. Having taken on many beasts over the years, he knew that going into the castle seemed too easy. The villagers slowly entered the castle, standing close behind their fearless leader. All was quiet within the castle halls… Too quiet.

"NOW!" A voice shouted.

And in that moment, the castle's residents appeared from their hiding spots and launched their own ambush towards the unsuspecting villagers. Animals and objects alike jumped seemingly from out of nowhere and brought the fight upon the villagers. Most of the group were not prepared and were taken by surprise, as the occupants overwhelmed them.

"Take that, you ruffians!" Manx shouted, scratching two villagers in the face.

"Hei-yah!" Cogsworth screeched, landing a one-two punch toward a skinner villager. Rotting teeth knocked loosely out of his jaw.

"Where did these things come from?" Wolfe cried out.

"From the fiery depths of hell!" A villager responded. "We will all be cursed!"

Some of the villagers proceed to run straight towards the doors, as one particular villager was running from an oncoming dresser, it flapped it's doors like wings frightening the villager. Hans, burst through the crowd shooting at the dresser and the various creatures with his blunderbuss.

"Hyah! Come back you cowards! I did not come all this way to be stopped by furniture and mangy animals!"

Lumiere, who had crept unnoticed, sneaked behind the man and made his flames rise high enough to burn the man's buttocks. By the time Hans felt something was wrong, his pants lit up in a burst of flames and Hans was screaming madly. Hans ran around the room, danced around in pain, struggling to put out the flames. Gaston, seeing this display, clearly had enough of this madness.

"We don't have time for this!" Gaston cried out.

As none of the villagers seemed to hear him, the frustrated Gaston let loose a feral growl and raced unnoticed across the room. He passed by several villagers, who were getting their butts kicked by the occupants, clearly these incompetent ruffians could serve him less than expected. But at least they would keep the majority of the castle's staff distracted while he works his way through the castle. In the end, Gaston knew if he wanted the job done then he and he alone would be the one to bring down the beast. Wolfe, Hans, and Angus, having escaped their individual battles, were the only ones to see Gaston leave the group.

"Comrade!" Wolfe shouted, running after Gaston. "Wait for me!"

"Us too!" Angus shouted, trailing Wolfe while Hans followed close.

Whether Gaston heard them or not, he didn't seem to pay them any heed. All Gaston cared about was the only thing on his mind: His prey. Gaston would not return to the village empty-handed, there has never been "one" hunt he ever walked away from.

* * *

They searched the halls for quite a while, seemingly finding nothing. Trying another tactic, Angus knelt down and sniffed the floor for a trace of the beast's scent. It was a rather odd technique, but it was only then that he found something: A lock of hair. Angus picked it up and took a great sniff for the scent. Finding a match, he showed it to Wolfe.

"What do you make of this hair?" He asked.

"Hmm," Wolfe observed, inspecting the hair. "Too small to be wolf hair, yet too big to be bear hair."

Gaston simply smiled, he alone knew the answer.

"The Beast."

Angus sniffed the ground again and this time found a trail that matched the piece of hair.

"The Beast is close by."

"Excellent, comrade," Wolfe smiled, pulling out his sickle.

"Lead the way, Gaston," Hans said, pulling out a long chain. "May this go down in history as the greatest hunt of our lives."

Nodding simultaneously, the little band of hunters followed the trail through the hallway. It was a long walk for the lot, but eventually they reached a closed door, the largest of them all. Gaston tried the knob, noting it was locked. But there was no mistaking it: Surely behind these great doors, the mighty beast was waiting. He turned towards his three comrades, an evil grin on his face.

"This is it; I can feel it."

Wolfe nodded silently, sliding his sickle between the lock. With a few simple twists of his wrist, Wolfe quietly pried the door open. Though it was quiet dark inside the room, there was a slight light shining through the balcony and thus revealing a silhouette of a figure by the vanity. There was no mistaking what these hunters have seen. For they just caught their first glimpse of Maria.

"My god!" Hans harshly whispered. "It truly is the work of the devil!"

"Aye, I'd say we kills it before it gets the chance to strike!" Angus declared.

"I will go first," Gaston said, ready for a good kill. "You follow and ambush it from behind, in case it does make a move."

"Jawohl," Hans answered.

As the hunters slowly approached, quiet weeping could be heard across the room. The crying coming straight from the beast herself, Maria, who still sat at her vanity. When she lifted her head to look at herself in the mirror, that's when she noticed a large man, armed with a bow and arrow, aiming straight at her and looming over from the door. She quickly turned, seeing the man, and gasped in horror. For what she saw before her was a creature just as fierce as her, and for the first time a twinge of fear could be felt.

Gaston, with a bow in hand, sees his chance and fires the arrow straight at her. Maria tried to dodge, but it was too late. The arrow lodged straight in her right shoulder, she roared in extreme pain. Seizing the opportunity, Gaston and Angus lassoed ropes around each of her wrists. Maria tried as hard as she could to snap them off, but the ropes were much stronger than she realized. For while she was distracted, Hans snuck from behind, pulled out his own rope, and lassoed it around Maria's neck.

"Keep pulling, lads!" Angus shouts. "She'll give in soon! Just keep pulling!"

Wolfe, taking out his own rope, lassoed it around Maria's neck as well, almost choking her. He pulled out a whip from his pocket and lashed out at her midsection.

"Ha ha!" He shouted.

Wolfe repeated the process over and over, eventually Maria's strength weakened drastically. She could no longer fight off against these barbaric men and collapsed to the ground. By then, it was their one shot of clasping manacles all around her wrists, ankles, and neck.

"We've done it!" Hans cried. "That was… That was kind of easy."

Maria let out a fierce growl in reaction. So loud it was, the men couldn't help but think, as they winced, that it could be heard from around the world. Soon, she was silent, and, a tear slipped down along her cheek.


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: Chapter co-written by Rory4, QueenOfTheFaeries, SamoaPheonix9, and Wrestlemaniac829.**

Back downstairs, the battle was still taking place. Most of the humans had fled from the castle, though a very few held their ground against the various furniture and animals that kept them from pressing any further. Just then, at the precise moment when the occupants had the upper hand, a loud whistle echoes on the main room. Everyone turns around to see Gaston standing at the top of the steps, as the fighting came to a slow halt.

"We have done it!" He shouted. "Behold: The terrible Beast!"

"What?" Lumiere asked, in shock.

But the man known as Gaston was not kidding. For behind him, dragged down the steps by Hans, Wolfe, and Angus, a chained and bruised Maria stood before them. The villagers were quite shocked by what they see, but their shock was much different. For before them, this beast was practically near lifeless and seeing this creature in this shape was... Sad. Was this really the terrible beast they had heard about? Gaston certainly believed it was.

"It was a long, crushing battle," Angus replied with a smile. "But in the end, we prevailed in possibly our greatest fight to date!"

"Eh, I had better," Hans replied.

"Why is no one cheering for us?" Gaston wondered. "We come all this way to capture this filthy creature. Why is there no applause?"

"Fear not my friend," Wolfe replied, handing Gaston his signature sickle. "They'll cheer once you've gained your trophy."

Gaston smiled sadistically, his blood began to pump the moment he took the sickle in his grasp. He knew all eyes were on him, everyone was waiting to see what Gaston would do next. He knew the results would be worth it, Gaston would be more of a hero than he ever was in his life. Slowly, he lifts the sickle high in the air and aimed to bring it down with all his might towards Maria's head…

"NO!"

A loud shout caused the villagers to turn back to the front doors, as a figure burst through on horseback. A lone man riding a dark-colored horse, a look of determination on his face. In the light, they recognized his face. It was Frederick, and he was raging mad.

"Don't you touch her, Gaston!"

But the sickening thump of the sickle landing made him freeze in his tracks. Gaston finally acknowledged Frederick's presence with a triumphant grin plastered on his face. Before Frederick's very eyes, he had done it. Now, all he had to do was collect his bounty and then he would proceed to deal with the impudent school teacher.

He reached down to pick up the severed head of the beast, except it came up only with air. There's no way Gaston could've missed, he never missed a swipe in his life. He had to know for sure, as he turned down the floor. But there was no mistake, where the decapitated creatures should be. No more but an empty space on the floor there was. It was as if it disappeared from out of thin air, all that stood in it's place was the sickle embedded on the floor.

A cry of delight causes Gaston to turn around as Maria kneels a mere few feet from Frederick. Gaston had failed to noticed Maria rolling out of the way just before the sickle could touch her. From where she was, she looked towards Frederick with heartfelt eyes. Though she was bound in heavy chains, she smiled seeing that Frederick had come back… As he promised. Seeing the two eyeing each other, the townspeople were in disbelief.

"That's impossible!" Hans cried. "How did you escape?"

"Let's just say I had some help," Frederick replied, as Katrina ran past him.

"Mama! Mama!"

"Katrina!" Miss Doe cried, pulling her into a fast embrace.

"I'm sorry for running away, mommy. But if I didn't, Frederick would still be locked in that cold, dreary cellar!"

"Leave Maria's home… Now!" Frederick shouted, his eyes narrowed at Gaston.

"I think not," Gaston retorted, giving a bellowing laugh. "We were just about to finish what we started and we can't have school-teachers running in and interrupting our business."

"Look at her, Gaston, does she look vicious to you?"

"Wolf's snout, ram's horns, claws… I've seen them on many creatures, but all at once… Yes, I would say she is," Gaston replied, sneering down at him.

"Look, small man, my comrades and I have traveled hundreds of miles for the thrill of a hunt," Wolfe said, giving a short bark of laughter. "We refuse to leave this castle empty-handed, we has reputation to uphold… Though we do wish the hunt was more 'challenging'."

"Now, we have wasted enough time with words," Angus added. "If you don't mind, we have a trophy to collect! So hand her over… Or we'll take her by force!"

But back down Frederick would not, Gaston and his boys have had their way for the last time. Frederick knew what he had to do, it was a long shot but he had to try. Not just to save himself, but to save Maria as well. He turns to the angry mob, imploring them to hear him out.

"Friends, neighbors, beloved townsfolk, please, I beg you to look at her. I mean 'really' look at her. Does this creature, the one you call a 'beast', does she look like she could hurt anyone? Any of you?"

The mob had nothing to say to Frederick, his words were like a stake pinned to their hearts. For as they turned to gaze at this poor, suffering creature, laying before them on the floor, helpless… Innocent… Sad… They felt ashamed. Here they had came, with the promise of protecting their homes from a savage beast, only to realize that everything they thought they knew was a lie. Though some tried to shake their heads in denial, they could not turn from Maria's pleading eyes for salvation. Frederick was right, he was right about everything and they had never felt so foolish until this very day.

Gaston's expression soured. Here he was at the peak of succeeding with his task and this school teacher bursts in and is starting to turn the villagers against him. No, he wouldn't have it.

"It… Is… A… BEAST!" Gaston shouted. "She is a monster, nothing more and nothing less. Here we have this creature, at our mercy, and you DARE to tell these people about pity?"

"The only monster here is you Gaston!" Frederick retorted.

"… Really, Freddy? Really? I do admire your guts, you really want to play this game again… One last time? The clock's ticking and these people came to see results."

There is a long pause between the two, Frederick and Gaston. Frederick stared fiercely towards Gaston, who simply just shakes his head.

"Don't give me that face Frederick; I'm not the bad guy! I'm a hunter, I've been hunting beasts all my life and I at least did this god forsaken town hundreds of favors. You were nothing, a nobody… And then you met me. That's when the whole world decides to give you a shot. Then you blew it waylaying me, telling me how I should be living my life. The fact is: You can make 'all' the promises you want, but you'll never understand how the world works. But surprise, here's your pal Gaston! The mighty hunter coming to give you one… Last… Chance."

Suddenly, Gaston darted to Maria and grabbed her by the fur atop her head. She yelped as Gaston dragged her back, removing the sickle from the floor. Frederick rushed toward them, but he held it out in front of Frederick and halted him in his tracks.

"Your choice Frederick: Your life or hers. But now that I think of it, either way, I could kill her anytime I want. Then, I can finish what I started… With you. So choose wisely Freddy-boy, are you ready to throw away everything in your life, or what's left of it? A broken family? A woman who was almost your wife? The world you knew all your life? You'd throw all of it away… For this mangy creature? You know how it ends school-teacher, someone's life will end and it will all involved 'me'."

"GASTON!"

A powerful voice shouted, causing the mob to turn. Before them stood Mr. Le'Roux at the doorway, Gabriella close behind him.

"Father!" Gaston spoke, laughing. "I did not expect you to be here too… So soon."

"Where is the creature I've been hearing about?"

"This thing, right here. Foul, isn't it?"

Mr. Le'Roux walked through the mob, who separated from both sides to give the man some walking space. He slowly approached Gaston, looming down to Maria. For a moment, he just looked at her as she looked back with a hint of fear.

"May I borrow an axe?"

Without hesitation, someone from the mob handed Mr. Le'Roux an axe. He nodded his thanks to the man, who anxiously made his way back to the group. He slowly turned to Maria, lifting the axe above his head and casting a shadow upon the beast. She closed her eyes, expecting the worst. With great force, he slammed the axe down… Cutting Maria's chains.

"Father?" Gaston asked, confused. "Are you releasing it for sport? It won't run - it didn't when we caught…"

SLAP! The mob gasped when they saw Mr. Le'Roux slap his own son right across the face. They were all surprised to see one of the most notable men in their village do that to their kid, but none more surprised than Gaston, who turned from that smack with a cheek redder than before. At first, he was at a loss for words that his own father would do such a thing.

"Father…"

"Don't you 'father' me!" Mr. Le'Roux shouted, interrupting Gaston. "Your sister told me everything: Threatening to throw the La'Belles into an insane asylum, threatening my daughter with violence, and locking up my future son-in-law in a cellar!"

"And killing all of the other suitors, too!" Gabriella brought up.

"You stay out of this you little-" Gaston spoke, pointing a finger.

"YOU?" Mr. Le'Roux accused, shocked. "That was YOU?! You're the reason all those men vanished?! When they left my daughter in the altar, for reasons 'you' told me."

"Father, I…"

"Gaston, I am ashamed of you. My own flesh and blood, my own son turns out to be a cold-blooded killer. And now here you are about to harm another innocent soul, blindly murdering this creature for your own gain. What has this beautiful creature ever done to you? Gaston… I would've known this day would come, when you 'spoiled' the family name."

"But… But…"

Gaston could find no words to explain, every word from his father hit him like a dagger. As Mr. Le'Roux confronted his son, Frederick ran up to Maria, pulling her into a warm embrace.

"Oh Maria," he cried. "Thank God you're alright."

"Thank you for coming back," Maria replied, hoarsely.

"Maria… There's something I have to ask you."

"What?" Maria asked, cautiously. "What is it?"

To Maria's surprise, Frederick slowly stood up over her. Then, he took a step back while clearing his throat, and lastly he held up his hand in the air.

"With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine."

Peter, Olivia, and Jean-Luc had just walked into the castle. By the time they did so, they were stunned to see what Frederick was about to do. Even Gaston, still getting over his shock with his father, was confused as he tried to make what Frederick was doing. Quite frankly, he thought he was mad. Especially when Frederick pointed to Lumiere, who observed what was going on atop a table.

"With this candle, I will light your way through darkness."

Frederick then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a ring, a wedding ring.

"With this ring, I ask you to be mine."

And then, he did the unimaginable and something no one from the village had anticipated Frederick to do. With the ring, he slipped it onto Maria's finger. The very ring that everyone, even his family and friends, thought he was giving the ring to Gabriella. But instead, he gave it to the beast.

In all this Maria, she never thought that this was going to happen. As she lifted her hand, stared at the diamond ring on her finger, so many thoughts came to her head. Here she thought that Frederick was intending to marry another woman, but she never thought that Frederick actually wanted to marry her.

"Frederick…" She breathed.

"Maria…" Frederick interrupted, kneeling to the floor. "Maria… Will you do the honor of becoming my wife? Will you marry me?"

The room was utterly silent, no one spoke a word. Everyone was either really stunned, or just getting over the fact that Frederick was proposing to the beast they were led to kill. Stunned into mobility by what they have just witnessed, including Maria herself. Everyone, that is, except Gaston. Including his father, everyone else was distracted by this scene. Now he saw his chance to finish what he started. Seizing a pistol from one of the gaping villagers, he aimed the pistol, and fired point-blank… BAM!

A cry of pain echoed in the room, everyone inside seemed to come alive and gasped what they saw. Maria and Frederick watch eye-to-eye, not saying a word and their mouths gaped and none of them made a sound. But then, Frederick let out another cry and held his side trying to stop the bleeding, the blood staining the floor. Nearly half the room, villagers and castle servants, yelled in fury and ran to seize Gaston. However, it was Mr. Le'Roux who reached his son first and at that same time Maria flung herself down beside Frederick, who fell to the ground as she looms over him sobbing.

"Everyone, stay back!" Mr. Le'Roux shouted, his voice carried through the room. "I have him."

"Father! What are you doing?" Gaston cried, trying to pull free. "Don't you see I've done the right thing?"

"All I've seen is that we haven't done right by you, son! You were out of your place to shoot that boy, just as you were out of line to take those other innocent men. Hopefully some time at the asylum will bring you to your senses. Maybe they'll clear your head for what you've done."

As Mr. Le'Roux berated his son, Gaston could hardly believe what he was listening. This was not what Gaston had wanted, neither this was what he had planned. Gaston couldn't understand… Something was wrong with this whole scene. Gaston just shook his head, the blood boiling over, and finally he couldn't take it anymore. Finally, he pulled his arm out of his father's grasp and stared angrily at his father.

"What I've done? What… I've… DONE?! All I ever did, EVERYTHING I've done, I did it to make you proud! But NO! It never matters what I did, you treated me like I didn't exist. And even when you did, all you did was berate me and humiliate me… You never loved me!"

As Gaston ranted to his father, he slowly backed away out through the open front doors. His father slowly approached his ranting son, the rest of the mob following behind. Gaston was so busy confronting him and the villagers, he didn't pay attention to where he was backing off too as he backed slowly toward a bridge wall over a small river.

"Everyday I put my life on the line for you and you ungrateful people! I rescue the town from certain death everyday, and what do I ever get to show from it... From you, father? NOTHING! You even liked Frederick more than me, the school-teacher over your own son?! You can punish me, you can push me away, and you can threaten to kill me, but you'll never escaped from the man you spawned! You will remember my name, ALL of you will remember me! I AM GASTON LA'RO-"

In the heat of that moment, Gaston leaned against that one spot on the wall, which fell loosely behind him. By the time Gaston realized what happened, it was too late. Gaston fell back over the bridge along with the wall and he screamed as he fell into the moat. Then, they heard a CRACK from the moat and rushed forward leaning by the wall. In the moat, it turned out the water wasn't very deep and lying face-first floating on the water next to the bits of the bridge wall that fell in, was Gaston. His neck was bent at a crooked direction, his eyes staring up into the sky devoid of life, and his mouth gaped loosely. Otherwise, the image itself was very clear… Gaston La'Roux was dead.

"Oh son… What haven't I done right with you?" Mr. Le'Roux mourned, before turning to Gabriella. "Go to Frederick… Let me know how he is."

"Of course, Father," Gabriella said, her voice quivering.

Several villagers stayed behind with Mr. Le'Roux, staring down at the lifeless body of the man they almost sent to the asylum. Even the hunters, who were hired by this man for a job, stayed watching over him and shook their heads from what just happened. Those that returned to the castle, rejoining the castle servants, crowded around Frederick, Maria, Gabriella, the La'Belles, and Jean-Luc. Gabriella slowly lifted Frederick's hand, shocked at the huge stain of blood that was clotting the whole area.

"Somebody get a doctor!" Gabriella shouted.

She slid down beside Maria, wrapping her arms around her shoulders in comfort. Though Frederick was still breathing, they came out in gasps as he struggled for air. Frederick, so weak, slowly looks up to Maria.

"Maria?" Frederick whispered, his voice hoarse.

"I'm here," She spoke, holding his hands gently. "Frederick… Did you really mean it when you asked me to marry you?"

Maria had to know for sure, she only thought Frederick said that to save her life. Surprise appeared on Frederick's face, even if he was in enough pain already. He simply smiled and shook his head slowly.

"Of course… Yes, I did. Maria, meeting you…was the best thing that ever happened to me. I… I love you… Maria."

"Oh, Frederick," Maria spoke, which was all she could think to say.

This was that moment, she could feel it. Here she was with the man who was once her prisoner. But now, before her, this man asked her to marry him. This one moment and the curse would've ended for good. But now, the curse didn't matter to Maria anymore. She had never cared less about it, all she ever wanted now was for one last moment with Frederick, who was slowly fading away before her eyes.

"Frederick… Please…" She begged. "Please don't die."

May… Be too late for that… Now," Frederick replied, smiling slightly. "But I'll obey… Ugh… I will try… But at the very least… I can die… Knowing… You… Love… Me…"

Frederick's voice trailed off, his last breath coming through his lips. Maria could feel his hands relax in hers, that was when she knew. Frederick was dying right before her eyes. But Maria would not accept it, she just shook her head trying to hold back the tears in her eyes and denying that the true love of her life will soon be gone.

"No!" She wailed. "Frederick, please. Wait! Come back to me! Please…! I do love you… Frederick."

Feeling lost knowing that the man was seemingly gone forever, Maria slowly bent down to Frederick and kissed him on the lips. She didn't expect Frederick to respond or acknowledge it. But she was so depressed knowing her true love is out of her life, all she hoped for was a miracle. Lifting her head, allowing Frederick's limp form to lean on her legs, she looked down as a tear falls down her face. She closed her eyes and sighed, her one chance to be free, for everyone's chances, had gone to waste.

"Well, this is not what I expected to see."

A new voice echoed in response to Maria's mourning. Everyone in the room turned to face the speaker, a very unfamiliar face to any of them. For making her way regally through the crowd of humans, objects and animals, was the Enchantress herself. Not much had changed over the years, she looked exactly as she had that fateful night. The night she had come to lay her curse. Now here she was, after all this time, looming before Maria, who simply stared back with anger and tears in her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Maria blurted out.

"I knew your time was up tonight, child," The Enchantress pointed out, a quizzical tone in her voice. "I merely came to see if you had indeed managed to break my curse."

Maria turned away from The Enchantress, she was too upset to even look at her. It was all too much for her, her emotions were running so deep. It was as if The Enchantress could sense it, she didn't even have to look in Maria's eyes to see.

"But I seem to have arrived in the midst of tragedy instead of a happy ending," The Enchantress continued, crossing her arms.

"You've had all the time to wait before acting," Maria whispered miserably, before turning back to The Enchantress with heavy tears. "Isn't there something you can do, now? I'll do anything to bring him back… Please. Just for once… Help me."

The Enchantress regarded her request for a long moment. All this time, she was not sure what to make of this child, a person she felt needed a punishment for a misdeed from long ago. But now, she saw a completely different person and not just because of her changed form. Her mouth quirked slightly, she knew what must be done.

"It seems I misjudged you those many years ago, child. I confess, I was angry at your theft, and made such a hasty assumption. That you, like so many noble children, were spoiled little things that needed to be taught a lesson in humility. But now I see, your selfless love for this man proved that I owe you quite a substantial apology… Perhaps more than that. Yes, I think I know how to amend this."

The Enchantress smiled, bending down and tapped Frederick gently with the thin wand she held in her hand. To everyone's amazement, Frederick's skin gave off a slight glow at the touch. He twitched and moaned slightly, and as Maria looked down, she saw that the wound in his side was healing. His skin was pulling itself together, as muscles were mended. As the healing process continued, Maria looked up at the enchantress with bright eyes.

"Thank you!"

"It's the least I do, child," She spoke, pausing briefly. "I feel compelled to remind you that you have but seconds until the final petal falls from the roe. Be certain to make them count."

"Make them count?" Gabriella repeated.

It was the first time she had spoken since the Enchantress appeared. The first time it became clear of the curse that had consumed the castle in it's spell.

"This young man here has asked her a question," The Enchantress explained gently, turning back to Maria. "This spell only requires that she gives an answer. May it come from the heart, child, and however this ends… Cherish every waking moment… While you still can."

Before their very eyes, the Enchantress vanished in a shower of sparkles. Not long was the Enchantress there, that now no trace of her can be found.

"Maria?" Frederick whispered weakly, his eyes fluttered open.

Yes, Frederick," Maria spoke, squeezing his hands. "I'm here, I love you so much… Yes… Yes, I will marry you."

"Oh, Maria!" Frederick cried, looking at her with joy.

But before the two could fully embrace, another spectacle occurred before all those who bore witness to these series of events. Glowing light surrounded Maria and seemed to carry her high into the air. Before everyone's amazement, her cloak wrapped around her body, hiding most of her from view. She seemed to squirm beneath it, as if throwing something off of her. Not much could be seen, all there was to see was her brown hair blowing every which way at once. And then, another flash of light blinded the onlookers. Frederick could just make out Gabriella and his parents beside him shielding their eyes.

When his vision cleared, he couldn't retrain a gasp of surprise. Where the 'Beast' Maria had stood before, a delicately beautiful young woman took her place. She appeared confused, as she examined her hands with a sense of awe. But that wasn't what truly made Frederick surprised. He knew this woman… He knew this girl. Though she was older, she resembled the very same girl from his drawing, the one he met in the clearing years ago! And now here she was, one and the same.

"It's you!" He gasped in surprise.

Finally, she turned to face him as her blue eyes sparkled joyously. Something in the way she moved about, including the shade of her hair and eyes, told him that this mysterious woman was indeed Maria. Only this time, she looked more beautiful and magnificent since the first time he saw her. She returned a smile to Frederick, though a little hesitantly.

"Yes, Frederick. It's me. I wanted so much to tell you who I was, but..."

"Maria!"

Frederick ran up and grabbed her around the waist and swung her around and about. Before either of them quite knew what was happening, they were kissing fiercely while the rest of the room watched in utter shock. It was without a doubt the most beautiful moment the village had ever seen, a moment they had never seen everyday… In a way quite like this.

As the pair kissed, the magic took it's effect on all the servants. Before anyone knew it, the castle itself began to glow along with all the servants. White sparkles of the Enchantress's magic overwhelmed everything in the room, each servant and architecture touched by the curse and restored to the way they had been before. Animal and household objects alike became human, dressed in the attire they had once worn. The castle had never looked as clean or beautifully decorated, until this very day. The spell had it's effect on everyone and everything… Everyone strangely enough except Katrina.

As Katrina waited anxiously for her curse to be lifted, Gutknecht and Manx stared at each other for a brief moment. With excitement and joy, they embraced, clapping one another on the back delightedly. Lumiere took enough time before dipping Babette back in a kiss to shake Cogsworth's hand. Around the room, similar magic bursts occurred as the enchanted servants slowly rediscovered their human selves. By this time, Frederick and Maria had stopped kissing just to watch the scene take place.

"Maria," Frederick said, reaching into his pocket. "I have something for you."

Removing his hand from his pocket, Frederick held out the worn drawing he'd been carrying for so long. Never thinking he would finally get to give this picture to Maria, until this very day. Maria stares at the paper, before she took it. Opening the paper, she stares at the picture of how Maria looked when she was just a child. Frederick never forgot about her even after all this time. She was so happy that she cried tears of joy.

"Frederick, you did remember me. I wasn't sure if you would."

"How could I forget?" He smiled. "I always wondered why you never came back."

"Now you know, or at least you've guessed.

As all this is happening all around, Katrina looked around anxiously waiting for the magic sparkle to swirl around her. But something was off, she didn't feel any different… No magic came to her. She looked down at herself: She sees the same hooves, the same fur, and the same reflection of a regular Doe instead of the human girl she heard about in her stories. Katrina just couldn't understand. Why didn't the magic work on her? Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see her mother, or at least a different kind of mother. Miss Doe, now much taller and human-like, looked down on Katrina with a rather sad face.

"Mama," Katrina said, a hint of fear in her voice. "What's going on?"

"Katrina," Miss Doe sighed. "There's something I should've told you before... I just didn't know how to say it properly."

"W-What?"

"… I was pregnant at the time, when the curse came upon the castle. When I was transformed into a deer, that was when I brought you into our world. When I saw you, you were in fact a baby fawn and even so I was determined to raise you as my own. As you grew, I noticed that you had human qualities I had passed onto you and I for one was scared to tell you the truth about what you were. So… So I made up stories about the make-believe life of when you were a human child… I wanted you to feel that was the life you deserved. Oh Katrina, I am so sorry."

Tears slowly came to Katrina's eyes, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Scared, she embraced her mother by the legs and tears fell down her face.

"I don't like this! I want everything the way it was before… I want my old mama back!"

"I know you do, Katrina," Miss Doe replied. "But I want you to understand something: No matter how we look or what we could've been, I will 'always' be your mother."

"The poor child," Cogsworth said as Lumiere patted him on the shoulder.

"Yes, Cogsworth. It is hard to accept the truth, especially when it takes so long to be told. If only there was something we could do."

Suddenly, there is a slight glow that appears before them. Cogsworth looks in amazement, as he taps Lumiere on the shoulder.

"Maybe not us, my friend... Look!"

There before them, something magical did happen at that very last second. Miss Doe looked down to see her entire body radiating a golden glow. Katrina looked up and was surprised at what she saw. The magic wrapped around her mother, bending her down to the floor and glowing brighter and brighter. Katrina closed her eyes momentarily, but as the light faded, she opened them to see her mother lying hunched with her back against her. She nudges her mom curiously.

"Mama?"

Miss Doe finally stired, groaning for a moment. As she stood up, she noticed something different. Opening her eyes, she saw the room has grown slightly bigger and when she looks down she saw hooves. The reflection on the floor revealed that Miss Doe had in fact reverted back to her deer form, in the most unexpected of ways. She turned to Katrina, not sure what to say at first. But she didn't have to. She simply smiled at her daughter.

"Katrina..."

"MAMA!"

Rushing forward, Miss Doe and Katrina embraced each other as only a mother and a daughter could do. Tears streamed down their faces as they were reunited in some form, though it was confusing to some. But those who saw the meaning behind this change, the answer was clear: It never mattered how they'd look or how they could've appeared, nothing is more powerful than the wonder and magic of true love. The will to sacrifice the ways of the old to embrace the old and all that Miss Doe did for what really matters… The love for her daughter. It was as if the Enchantress answered a silent prayer, the next best amendment she did for this castle and their lives.

All of a sudden, the room abruptly went quiet. Turning to find the reason, Maria froze and would have fallen had Frederick not grabbed her elbow. Descending the stairs with regal dignity, glad smiles plastered on their faces, the King and Queen, Maria's parents, had arrived.

"Mama! Papa!"

Forgetting all her own dignity, overwhelmed by her excitement and joy, Maria flung herself toward her parents. Without a fuss, they opened their arms and gathered her up in an embrace just as if she was a little girl again. For they too had waited so long to their daughter again, no matter how long it's been. Now, here they were, together once more.

"We're so proud of you, Maria," Her father whispered in her ear. "Now, how's about introducing us to your fiancé."

Maria grinned, leading them down the rest of the stairs. As she did, she took note for the first time the amazed stares of the villagers, of Frederick's parents and servant. For years, they all heard the stories of the royal family, but never actually saw or knew what they were like. Now that they saw what they were, everything they thought… They may as well have thrown it out the window. Maria almost laughed aloud, it had been years since the village had seen them. A long round of explanations was in order and they would get to hear it from her and her family this time. But for now...

"Cogsworth!" She called.

Cogsworth rushed to her side with a deep bow.

"Yes, milady?"

"I think this warrants a party, don't you think?"

"Oh yes! Indeed, Mistress," He replied with a smile. "We'll see to everything, not to worry."

As Cogsworth scurried away to commence preparations, Maria's mother turned to face her daughter.

"Here, Maria," Her mother said, placing something prickly in her hands. "I get the feeling this was meant for your young man."

Confused at first, Maria looked down and gasped to see that it was the rose. Only, it was no longer wilted and no longer glowing. It was like every other rose, only much more beautiful. Even so, Maria looked nervous fearing previous events may occur again. Her mother could sense it and gave her a reassuring glance.

"I think it's just an ordinary rose now, sweetheart."

"I was going to give it to him when I picked it," Maria admitted. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess," Her mother replied with a shrug.

Deep down, Maria probably knew there was more to it than that. But, she did not wish to pursue it at this time. After all, there were introductions to be made, and a party for everyone to attend just like the old times. Only this time, it would be much more grand than all the parties before.

"Come on," She said, taking her mother's hand. "Just wait until you meet him!"


	19. Epilogue

**A/N: This chapter was written by me and Wrestlemaniac829.**

The day of the wedding dawned brightly, a clear day over the castle and it's frantic inhabitants. Frederick and Maria stood before the priest, holding hands and facing each other. The only two seemingly unaffected by the preparations for this grand event. Among the many guests in attendance, Miss Doe sat sniffling at the front, as Katrina handed her one handkerchief after the other.

"I now pronounce you man and wife," The Priest finished. "You may kiss the bride."

A roar of cheers and happy laughter followed, as Frederick gallantly seized Maria and gave the warmest kiss he ever gave. Soon, he escorted her to the dance floor and they slowly began to waltz to their wedding song. Lumiere looked proudly at the two, after everything they've went through together, and sighed.

"Ah, l'amour."

"Melts the heart!" Miss Doe sniffed tearfully, as she followed the happy couple with her eyes.

"Yes, my dear," Gutknecht replied, taking a hold of her hoof. "It does indeed."

There was a giggle from behind a velvet curtain. Lumiere turned to see Babette, the long term object of his affections. She fluttered her eyelashes at him girlishly, as if urging him to come to her. Lumiere smirked and ran over, only for Cogsworth to interrupt.

"Well Lumiere," Cogsworth declared. "Shall we leave things in the past?"

"Of course, Cogsworth," Lumiere replied, slightly distractedly, as he tried to peer toward Babette. "Besides, I told you he would break the spell."

"I do beg your pardon, old friend, but I believe I told you."

"No you didn't; I told you."

Finally, Cogsworth had enough and shoved Lumiere.

"You most certainly did not, you pompous paraffin-headed pea-brain!"

"En garde, you… You overgrown pocket watch!"

Things got out of hand between the two men, as Lumiere removed one of his gloves and slapped Cogsworth across the face. Manx turned to see the two men throwing fists at each other.

"Gentleman," Manx spoke, standing between the two bickering men. "Can't we discuss this like civilized chaps?"

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Lumiere and Cogsworth screamed in unison.

Soon, the two men were on the floor, rolling on top of one another and fighting it out. Manx just simply covered his eyes at this rather embarrassing display.

"Some things never change."

Meanwhile, watching Frederick and Maria together, The La'Belles, Jean-Luc, and Gabriella look on proudly. True, Gabriella was disappointed that Frederick would end up with Maria in the end. But she was no woman to hold a grudge, Frederick simply followed his heart and it belonged to the right girl for him. There would always be other men for Gabriella, she may not even have to look hard this time.

"They sure look happy together," Gabriella replied.

"Maybe we can be as happy as they are," Jean-Luc added, holding her hand.

Gabriella looked into Jean-Luc's eyes, as if a small spark was made at first glance. Perhaps she didn't have to look after all. It was right there in front of her.

"Maybe, someday."

With no other words, Gabriella leaned her head on Jean-Luc's shoulder, smiling. Then, as Frederick and Maria began to slow down, the chorus began to sing a beautiful love song in honor of the newly wedded couple.

_Certain as the sun_

_Rising in the east_

_Tale as old as time, _

_Song as old as rhyme_

_Beauty and the beast!_

_Tale as old as time, _

_Song as old as rhyme_

_Beauty and the beast!_

Then, they closed their eyes and kissed each other with great passion. For to them, this was how it felt like to be at the end of the fairy tale. After all the hardships and struggles, through all of life's misfortunes and miracles. For both Frederick and Maria, this was what it meant... To live happily ever after.

**THE END**


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